YEATESVILLE — The Panthers took another step forward in their pursuit of a Four Rivers Conference crown as they topped Camden 10-7 on Friday.
Heading into the game Northside, Camden, Riverside and Perquimans were locked in a four-way tie for first place in the conference but the room at the top got a little less crowded on Friday as the Panthers were able to pull out a win and will share the league lead with either Riverside or Perquimans, depending on who won their Friday night matchup.
“We’ve worked our way back to the top and to stay at the top we’ve had to play two teams that were in first place when the week started,” Northside coach Keith Boyd said. “We were able to get two wins so hat’s off to the kids. It was a total team effort.”
In an up-and-down game, Northside’s Ryan Arthur made sure the Panthers stayed on top as he broke a 7-7 tie in the sixth inning with a booming three-run triple. After that, Arthur, who took the mound in relief in the fourth inning, pitched a scoreless seventh to lock down the victory.
“The kids made plays and that shows the maturity of our team,” Boyd said. “Then Ryan – I guess it was just his night – gets up there hits a triple with bases loaded to give himself and the team a three-run lead. That’s big time for a sophomore.”
Also putting forth a big time performance was Brandon Marsh, who went 3-3 with a double and a triple to drive in five runs for the Panthers (12-6, 3-3).
“We had two big hits by Arthur and Marsh. They each had bases loaded triples and that’s six runs right there,” Boyd said. “That’s getting hits when you need them. They did a great job.”
Panthers’ starter Dillon Cutler allowed one run in the first, but Northside answered back when Marsh and Arthur drove in runs in back-to-back at-bats to go up 2-1.
That lead would not last long as the Bruins scored one run on a Northside error and another on a Christian Latham base hit to go up 3-2 and chase Cutler out of the game. Grey Burbage came on in relief and got Northside out of the inning.
The Panthers jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the second when Marsh drilled a three-run triple and Cutler added an RBI single off of Bruins starter Dustin Winslow.
After Burbage pitched a scoreless third, he struggled with his command in the fourth and yielded two runs before he was removed in favor of Arthur, who came in with the bases loaded and allowed two unearned runs before closing out the inning with back-to-back strikeouts as his team trailed 7-6.
The Bruins would not score again as Arthur fanned five in four innings to get the win. Winslow threw six innings for the Bruins and struck out one in a no decision.
In the fourth, the Panthers tied the Bruins when Caleb Sherman singled, stole second and scored on a Marsh single.
In the sixth inning Northside’s Ben Hutson and Caleb Coltrain each drew walks and advanced a base on a Sherman sac bunt, which put two runners in scoring position for the red-hot Marsh. The Bruins opted to intentionally walk Marsh and Arthur made them pay when he blasted the game-winning triple.

Camden    120    040    0    –    7    9    0
Northside    240    103    X    –    10    11    1
WP: Ryan Arthur; LP: Mark Nelson
Hitting: C — Evan Phillips 1-4 (RBI), Christian Latham 3-4 (2 RBI), Dustin Winslow 1-2 (2 RBI), Brett Forbes 2-3 (2 RBI), Ridge Sellers 1-4; N — Caleb Sherman 1-3 (2 R), Brandon Marsh 3-3 (2B, 3B, 5 RBI), Ryan Arthur 2-4 (3B, 4 RBI), Dillon Cutler 2-4 (RBI), Neal Gibbs 1-3 (2 R), Ben Hutson 1-2 (2 R), Caleb Coltrain 1-2 (2 R).