YEATESVILLE — Northside softball coaches Jack and Louise Beirne new what was coming and there was nothing they could do about it. Upon the conclusion of the Panthers 10-6 victory over Pamlico in the Northside Easter Tournament championship game the Northside players drenched both of the Beirnes with celebratory Gatorade shower making good on a pre-tournament promise.

For Jack and Louise Beirne it was well worth. They promised their players that if they could bring home the tourney trophy they had the green light to give each an ice water bath and on Saturday both parties made good on their word.

Northside jumped out a 2-0 lead after three innings, but a big five-run fourth by Pamlico threatened to cancel the Panthers postgame celebration. Northside would have none of that, as it rallied for seven runs in the sixth to pull away with the tourney title.

“It feels great to win our tournament, it’s been a long time since we have been able to do that,” Jack Beirne said. “The girls have really worked hard this year and they are pulling together.”

Lillyann Arnold picked up the win for the Panthers as she pitched all seven innings. Arnold was backed by a strong offensive output that was led by Brittney Alligood, who was 3-4 with three RBIs, along with Jordan Woolard. who went 2-4 and drove in a run.

Despite all the big hits, it was a grounder to first base by Ashleigh Cornelius that pushed the Panthers past Pamlico.

Trailing 5-4 with one out, Cornelius was able to reach first safely after the Hurricanes attempted to tag her but dropped the ball and allowed two runs to cross home plate. After that, Hannah Bowen ripped an RBI single, Alligood drove in two runs and would steal home on a wild pitch to take a 10-5 advantage. Pamlico would add one more run in the sixth but could not close the gap.

“We just came out strong the whole tournament,” Beirne said. ‘We came out and the girls just had a great attitude and were focused and it carried throughout the whole tournament. We got a little bit rattled in this last game and fell behind, but they showed great character and came back and hit the ball.”

In other tourney action the South Creek Cougars took third place as it beat Farmville 1-0 led by a dominant effort by Sara Mosley. Mosley threw all seven innings and allowed two hits to pick up the win.

Riverside 9, Northeastern 8

Locked in an 8-8 stalemate, Riverside’s Luke Mathews saw the ball get past the Northeastern catcher and dashed from third base to steal home and a 9-8 victory over the Eagles in the championship game of the Northside Easter Tournament on Saturday.

In what turned out to be a see-saw game with several big hits and web-gem worthy defensive plays, the Knights (17-4) were able to hold on and enter the final week of the regular season with a huge tournament victory.

“We appreciated Northside hosting a great tournament and give compliments to our players, fans and coaches,” Riverside coach Hank Tice said. “It was a great atmosphere tonight, it had some playoff intensity to it. We beat a really good baseball team, they swing the bat as well as any team we played.”

The Eagles took an early lead on the Knights, lost it, then regained it later but they could not hold on to it as a big four-run rally by Riverside allowed it to take a 8-7 lead after four innings. Northeastern scored a run in the fifth to tie the game at 8-8, which is where it stayed until Mathews stole home.

Mathews ended the day going 1-3 with a three-run triple, while Cameron Price was 1-4 with two RBIs and Christian Leggett was 2-3 with an RBI. Caleb Whitley tallied two hits, while Lucas Groove went 1-2 and Will Gurganus was 1-3.

Gurganus also came out of the bullpen to pitch 3 2-3 innings in relief of Mathew Perry to get the win. Gurganus struck out four batters and allowed five hits.

Perhaps Gurganus’ impact was felt the most away from the mound where he made a spectacular catch in centerfield. Early in the game, a Northeastern batter drilled a Perry pitch deep towards the 350-feet mark in center field that was destined to sail over the fence until Gurganus tracked it down and lunged over the fence to bring it back.

“It brought back memories of the Eastern Finals in 1995 when D.J. Reddick made what is probably now the second best high school catch I have ever seen made,” Tice said. “That kind of lifted our spirits. That was a home run and that would have put them back up on top. If you break the game down, we win by one run and he takes a run off the board.”

Northeastern saw another potential run come off the board in the seventh inning. With the bases loaded and one out, the Eagles hit a sacrifice fly that looked like it was going to score a run except their base runner got called for leaving third base early after Tice appealed to the umpire.

“The umpire had to make a tough call. We clearly thought he left early but kudos to that umpire. I blasted one last week but I want to give credit to this umpire because you’re talking about making a call to win or lose a championship game.” Tice said. “ I went out and appealed it, and it’s easy for me to say he got it right because we won the game, but he made a tough call.”

Before the Knights topped the Eagles, Southside beat Northside 7-6 and Mattamuskeet 8-0 to lockup third place in the tournament. In the first game against Northside, the Seahawks rallied from a 6-3 seventh-inning deficit and scored the game winning run when Northside dropped the third strike on Billy Harding and could not complete the throw to first base allowing pinch runner Willie Peele to score the final run of the game. Terrill Moore picked up the win as he threw six innings in relief and struck out six batters.