Seniors help power Panthers to victory
Published 4:53 pm Wednesday, May 2, 2018
PINETOWN—Five seniors provided at least one RBI Tuesday night, as the Northside softball team celebrated Senior Night with a 20-1 win in five innings over Jones Senior.
The Panthers (13-5, 10-1) quickly established a lead against Jones Senior (6-12, 2-8) and never let up. By the end of the second inning, Northside already led 3-0. The highlight of the game’s early moments was a standup RBI-double from the Panthers’ senior starting pitcher Rebekah Williams.
Northside added five more runs to the scoreboard in the third inning. Senior Brooklyn Hudnell began the inning’s scoring with a 2-RBI single. A throwing error and a wild pitch allowed two more runs to score, before a Teagan Pilgreen RBI double capped the scoring in the third, leaving the Panthers with a 8-0 lead.
The bottom of the fourth is when Northside pushed its lead into double digits. A combination of big hits and Trojan errors allowed the Panthers to reach 20 runs. Senior Whittney Cromwell kick started the outburst of runs with a 3-RBI double and reached third with the help of a Jones Senior fielding error. Pilgreen closed the scoring with a 2-RBI single.
Panthers’ head coach Gil Robbins was happy with how his team played but admits it wasn’t a perfect performance from his team.
“We played well, we made our plays early,” Robbins said. “We made a couple of small mistakes; they’re all things we can adjust. Sometimes when a game that goes like this, sometimes that can happen.”
As a team, Northside had ten hits against the Trojans. Senior Kaitlyn Spain, along with freshman Kathleen Slade, led the way with two hits. Cromwell had a game-high four RBI, followed by Hudnell with two RBI. Fellow seniors Savannah Slade, Williams and Spain chipped in with an RBI each as well.
Along with helping produce runs, Williams kept Jones Senior from having much of an impact at the plate. The pitcher lasted all five innings, allowing one unearned run and one hit. Williams also racked up seven strikeouts and issued one walk.
On a night when Northside honored its seniors, Robbins was pleased with the dominant victory, especially with the playoffs fast approaching.
“It’s always great when you can take a win on that night and a pretty resounding win too,” Robbins said. “I think it builds confidence in the team. This time of year you’re starting to take positions for the playoffs and it never hurts to kind of have the momentum.”
The Panthers will end the regular season with a visit to Pamlico County today, where they’ll face the Hurricanes at 6 p.m.