PINETOWN — The scoreboard indicated East Carteret defeated Northside Friday evening by an 8-5 score, but it was the Lady Panthers beating themselves thanks to half a dozen errors. The mistakes yielded four runs for the visiting Lady Mariners and allowed them to firmly grasp first place in the 1-A Coastal Plains Conference.

A misstep at shortstop with two outs allowed a Hannah Nelson to reach first and let Alyssa Garner score. With runners on first and third, Mikayla Rose stepped up and drilled the game-winning hit — a three-run homer over the fence in centerfield. It produced a 7-2 lead for East Carteret.

“They’re human errors. I think youth has something to do with it. We could have made some plays to get out of innings that we didn’t do,” coach Riley Youmans said. Northside had committed just 12 errors going into the game.

“We had two outs several times with runners on base. We missed a couple of routine plays. … I felt like the team that made the least mistakes was going to come out victorious. That’s the team that made the least mistakes.”

Northside threatened to comeback on multiple occasions. With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Mackensi Swain knocked a ball through the left side to score Rebekah Williams. With that, the Lady Panthers pulled within three. An error by the opposing pitcher and a walk shortly after loaded the bases, putting a tie game or potential lead within reach. However, Kendall Alligood flew out and East Carteret escaped the jam with its lead intact.

“There’s always extreme pressure in a game like this,” Youmans said. “You’ve got two of the top teams in the conference battling for first place. The conference championship was tonight. There’s a lot of pressure on these girls and they do well.”

The two sides were evenly matched throughout the first half of the game. Both got runners on in a scoreless first inning. Rachel Lang settled in in the second and fanned two of the three batters to come to the plate. The visitors answered with a stout defensive effort of their own when they retired Northside in order in the bottom of the frame.

Two hits and an error at shortstop allowed East Carteret to strike first in the third. After giving up consecutive two-out RBI hits, the Lady Panthers bounced back and got out of the inning, stranding a Lady Mariner in scoring position.

Northside’s bats got going in the bottom of the third. Swain reached on a fielder’s choice that saw Savannah Slade thrown out at second. Whitney Cromwell followed with a double to the right-field fence that scored Swain. She came across on Lang’s ball to shallow left field.

The Lady Panthers tied the game and, with only one out, appeared to threaten more. However, Alligood popped up to shortstop and Quortasia Clark struck out looking.

After a scoreless fourth, East Carteret scored five times in the fifth. The aforementioned home run chased Lang in favor of Williams. Her first pitch was hit back to her and she made the play to Lang to escape the inning.

“I felt like I should have made the change a little sooner. Rachel pitched a great game and we made errors behind her,” Youmans said. “That’s not her fault. She did great. I knew East Carteret has very good hitters. … I wish I would have pulled her sooner. I think that would have made the difference.”

The loss was just Northside’s second in conference. Barring a late-season collapse by the Lady Mariners, first place may be out of reach. However, the Lady Panthers are ready to bounce back and dominate the final weeks of the regular season.