Northside baseball opens CPC play with two wins over rival Southside

Published 9:54 pm Monday, March 24, 2025

By Jason O. Boyd

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YEATESVILLE, N.C. — A young Northside baseball team has been working hard during the non-conference season to find its groove. This week’s games against Southside went a long way toward reaching that goal.

The Panthers opened Coastal Plains Conference play with a 5-2 win at Southside on Tuesday then held on for a 3-2 win at home on Thursday. The wins put Northside at 3-7 overall, 2-0 in the CPC. Southside drops to 3-5, 0-2.

“Well, us as coaches, we told the guys, this is a brand new season,” Northside coach Parker Boyd said. “No matter what your record is, if you go out and win the conference, you’re gonna get a high seed in the playoffs and you’re gonna get a pretty good draw.

“So we just told them, focus on winning these conference games, come out with intensity, play hard. I thought (Thursday) and Tuesday, our pitching was excellent. (sophomore) Trenton (Allen) had a heck of a game on Tuesday.

“Blake (Wainwright) had a heck of a game today, and then Ashton (Willard) came in and closed it. I couldn’t be more proud of the guys, but this one’s behind us, so gotta move on.”

The Panthers have had a tough start to the season with games against baseball-rich schools South Central, Martin County, Ayden-Grifton, Manteo and Perquimans. While the struggles were there, the Panthers are learning on the fly how to play the game.

Wins over their Beaufort County rival and how they were done will certainly help.

Northside got two runs in the sixth inning on Tuesday to extend its lead after both teams scored twice in the first inning. On Thursday, Northside got two runs in the second before Southside tied it in the top of the third. Memphis Keech came up with a hit that plated Northside’s runs while Southside scored on a bases-loaded hit batter and a fielder’s choice.

“I’ve never played varsity baseball,” Keech said. “So I feel like when we all come out here and work together, we get wins, just like Tuesday and (Thursday). I’ve been in a slump. So I was out there hitting the ball.”

The Panthers took the lead when Willard reached on an infield single, went to second on a passed ball and scored on a fielder’s choice.

“I’m really proud of, since we’re such a young team, we showed (Thursday) and Tuesday that we can play in a close game and not get too tight and make silly mistakes,” Boyd said. “Every day they come to work, practice hard, and we tell them, when you get out here, I think that was what the big thing was early on, was we’re so tight.”

Southside coach John Lohman talked about the mistakes that hurt the team in both games, including a dropped pop-up to second that led to a Northside run.

“We just, we got to improve our hitting,” Lohman said. “I mean, more contact would be nice, less strikeouts looking would be nice.

“I think if we can, again, minimize mistakes and get the bat on the ball more to make things happen on the field, we’ll be all right.”

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