CHOCOWINITY — Southside passed its first playoff test with flying colors as the No. 1 Seahawks crushed No. 4 North Edgecombe 19-0 in five innings as Savannah Mumford and Katy Laughinghouse teamed to throw a perfect game.
Mumford threw the first three innings of the contest and struckout eight of the nine batters she faced, while Laughinghouse tossed the final two innings and fanned five the six batters she encountered to lead the Seahawks (19-4, Four Rivers) into the second round of the NCHSAA 1-A playoffs against rival Northside at home on Friday.
“They both looked good,” Southside coach John Lohman said of his pitchers. “They didn’t goof around. They went out there and took care of business.”
Lohman said he was happy that his team came out ready to play against an obviously overmatched Warriors (No. 4 Tar Roanoke, 8-6) team that issued 17 walks, with nine of those coming in the first inning.
“I’m glad we came out and executed well and got the runs that we could,” Lohman said. “When you play a team that’s a little weaker than you, you don’t want to drop down to their level and I don’t think we did that.”
Southside racked up nine runs in the first inning on only one hit as North Edgecombe pitcher Kayla Booth struggled to find the strike zone as she walked the first eight batters she faced and then watched as they stole second and third base. The Warriors did not let her pitch to a ninth batter, and instead brought in Shaunika Johnson whose control was slightly better, but the results were the same: more Southside runs.
Johnson let up the first hit of the game as Laughinghouse hit a two-run single that made it 8-0. Mumford followed up and drove in a run in her second at-bat of the inning to go up 9-0.
The Seahawks added two runs in the second inning, which was highlighted by a Macy Paramore RBI single. Paramore finished the day going 2-3 with three RBIs. Southside rallied for five runs in the fourth and another three in the fifth to put the Warriors out of their misery in five innings.
While the Seahawks were clubbing North Edgecombe, the No. 4 Panthers (12-9, Four Rivers) knocked off No. 1 Gates (15-7, Tar Roanoke) 5-1 to set up the second round showdown with Southside.
With a loaded matchup with Northside right around the corner, a game against a North Edgecombe team whose pitchers’ fastballs were so slow they couldn’t puncture paper has the potential to create bad habits, however, Lohman’s team stayed disciplined.
“I was just telling them to be patient and wait for the ball to get there. You don’t want them swinging at stuff in the dirt or over their heads,” Lohman said.
On Friday, Southside faces a stiff challenge as it will try to beat Northside for the third this season.
“It’s tough beat a conference opponent three times in a year but we have done it before,” Lohman said. “We just need to go out and play our game.”

North Edgecombe 000 00 — 0 0 2
Southside 925 3X — 19 9 0
WP: Savannah Mumford; LP: Kayla Booth
Hitting: S — Savannah Mumford1-1 (RBI), Valarie Hodges 1-2 (RBI), Chris Morris 1-1 (RBI), Marlin Edwards 1-2, Macy Paramore 2-2 (3 RBI), Morgan Harding 2-2 (RBI), Katy Laughinghouse 1-3 (2 RBI)