CHOCOWINITY — Southside played 11 innings of near-flawless defense behind a combination of Brantley Cutler and Marshall Medlock. Something had to give between the Seahawks and East Carteret, and it was the Mariners that got a few breaks in a 12-inning, 4-0 win on Thursday.

The game-winning run reached on an error in the bottom of the 12th. East Carteret scored the game’s first run on a passed ball. Southside nearly got out of the inning facing a 1-0 deficit, but the Mariners scored three more times on an error and consecutive RBI singles.

“We haven’t been playing very well. We talked about playing a complete game yesterday,” coach Kevin McRoy said. “I felt like, today, we played a complete game. We played 11 very good innings. There was a hiccup in the 12th that cost us. That’s baseball. Sometimes breaks go your way and sometimes they go against you.”

The loss drops Southside to 1-3 in the 1-A Coastal Plains Conference. Two of the three losses have come in extra innings. The third saw the Seahawks fall short of a comeback Wednesday against Pamlico County.

These shortcomings hurt Southside’s standing in the league, but it still provides a degree of confidence. McRoy knows that those breaks won’t always go against his squad.

“I think they understand. They see that they can play with anyone in conference,” McRoy said. “Hopefully, they see that they can play and they play with some confidence and come out with a little edge and little chip on their shoulder. Baseball is a relaxed, aggressive sport.”

The Seahawks left six runners in scoring position throughout the game. Brantley Cutler knocked a one-out single back up the middle in the bottom of the sixth. Hunter Sparks then reached on an error on what would have been a double play.

Southside was able to recover from having its first two batters retired in the ninth. Jarrett O’Neal belted a single through the right side. Cody Modlin followed by drawing a walk, then Demetrius Ebron took his first pitch and sent it through the right side to load the bases with one out. The home side couldn’t get anyone home, though, as Cutler’s shot to left field had a bit too much air under it.

“I got a number of guys that go to the plate and are lacking confidence,” McRoy said. “They just don’t have any confidence at the plate. Some of the upperclassmen are lacking confidence. Good hitters, but they’re just lacking confidence and they’re struggling. They just need to go back to the basics. … They’ll come around. We’re hitting the ball hard, just not finding holes.”

The Seahawks staved off East Carteret in the top of the 11th, but went down in order in the next two innings as the Mariners escaped with the win.

Cutler started the game on the mound and rolled through the first eight stanzas. He gave up four hits and issued a pair of walks while striking out nine Mariners. Marshall Medlock took over heading into the ninth. He pitched 3 2/3 innings before Southside gave up four runs, none of which were charged to him. Dahlton O’Neal needed only one pitch to get out of the 12th by inducing a pop up to Ebron at shortstop.