PINETOWN — One of the biggest problems that’s plagued Northside baseball thus far has been a lack of consistency. The offense explodes in one game and may be quiet the next. The same can be said of the defense being crisp in one outing and sloppy in the next.

Such was the case in the games prior to the Easter tournament. Northside’s offense notched an astounding 20 runs against Pamlico County, but managed to plate just two over the course of its next three games against Bear Grass, Washington and Jones Senior.

Of course, these are growing pains to be expected of a younger group. Most of those who don the Panther uniform are sophomores. There are just four seniors on the roster: Zach Woolard, Jansen Hawkins, Chase Sauls and Ben Selby.

Once it was time for the tournament, the Panthers seemed to have switched the flip. Perhaps it had something to do with playing a string of games on their own field. They kicked off the weekend festivities by dismantling Mattamuskeet. They went on to go tit-for-tat with South Creek before walking off in the bottom of the ninth.

The tournament ended on a sour note when Northside, an out away from winning the title, allowed Washington five seventh-inning runs. The weekend was an overwhelmingly positive one, though, especially considering the Panthers mounted a bit of a comeback and only lost to the Pam Pack by two.

“We’ve still got to cut our walks out, but defensively we’re playing better,” coach Keith Boyd said. “At the plate, we look more confident. We step on the field with more confidence. I just hope we take that into next week and get back in conference and get on a roll.”

Indeed, the Panthers grew up over the course of the three-game tournament. There are still things they need to improve on, but the signs of maturity are among the most promising things moving forward.

A positive takeaway was playing Washington close after a pair of lopsided games earlier in the season. Boyd enjoyed seeing maturity and confidence shown against a good club like the Pam Pack.

“It helps that it was a good team,” he said. “But, you know, it’s getting out there and competing. It wasn’t a ‘here we go again’ kind of thing. We actually got out there and competed until the last out. That’s all I ask.”

Everything the Panthers displayed in their Easter tournament was promising, but it doesn’t mean much if they don’t follow through. Boyd is anxious and excited to see if it carries over to their April 5 game at Lejeune and beyond.

“I really won’t know until next week gets here,” he said. “It’s yet to be seen, but it was good signs of life and the kids being positive with one another.”