PINETOWN — A rare opposite field triple from senior Alex Adams and a hard-hit single up the middle from junior Kendall Alligood lifted Northside to an extra-inning, 3-2 win over No. 7-seeded Whiteville in the fourth round of the NCHSAA 1-A state softball tournament on Friday.

The victory aligns a matchup with No. 11-seeded North Duplin (15-3-1, 10-2 Carolina) next week in the eastern regional championship.

“We won, we’re going to the regionals and I can’t be more proud of these girls,” said head coach Riley Youmans. “They battled again and I can’t say enough about them. Over and over and over against they just stick with what they do best, and that’s hit the ball.”

Hundreds of onlookers filled in every seat on the bleachers, every space along the fence, and the game would certainly live up to the hype. With top-seeded Northside fighting for its playoff survival, two days removed from a down-to-the-wire, 1-0 victory over Princeton in Round 3, the sister duo of Kelsey and Rachel Lang battled through 10 innings against Whiteville starter Malerie Leviner, a junior sporting a microscopic 0.96 ERA.

Kelsey Lang tossed six innings, striking out seven and holding the Wolfpack to just five hits, while Rachel Lang pitched three innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits, striking out four.

“It’s almost like the pressure doesn’t even bother (Kelsey) whatsoever,” Youmans said. “She’s smiling, she’s carrying on, laughing, joking and that’s what it takes to be a good pitcher. A good pitcher is going to be relaxed at all time … Under pressure she just performs.”

Challenging the Panthers hitters with mid-grade heat and a series off off-speed pitchers, Leviner breezed through the first nine batters, allowing just two base runners — a looping single from Adams in the first and a base hit from Rachel Lang in the second. Singles from Whiteville’s Raeganne Sholar and Laura Thompson in the third inning provided the first real threat of the ballgame, but Kesley Lang escaped the frame with a strikeout of Eden Brown.

Rachel Lang took over in the fourth and would pick up where her sister left off, as Leviner continued to match on the other end. Finally, in the top of the fifth, Northside stuck first. Mariah and Taonya Stanley led off with back-to-back singles, reaching second and third on the throw in. Leviner retired the next two batters, but would allowed both Mariah and Taonya Stanley to score on two-straight wild pitches, her only wild pitches of the ballgame.

However, the visitors had their answer in the top of the sixth. Kourtney Grainger led the inning off with a double to left. Rachel Lang went on to induce a strikeout and a groundout, which allowed Grainger to advance to third base. Ivy Hayes hit a grounder to the right of Adams, who knocked the ball down, but was unable to make the near impossible throw, as Grainger came around to score. Sayeh Campbell continued the two-out rally with a single and Lauren Worley hit a shot to Adams, who bobbled the ball after Campbell restricted her line of sight. Hayes came around to score on the play, knotting the game at two.

Kelsey Lang took over again in the seventh inning and Leviner continued to throw up zeros.

“You just can’t get better than these ballgames like this,” Youmans said. “When you get to this level, this is what the fans want, this is what everybody wants.”

In the bottom of the 10th inning, Leviner retired the first batter, but Adams smashed a tripled just out of the reach of the left fielder. After Kelsey Lang lined out to first, Alligood, who already had two hits in the game, stepped up to the plate with a chance to send Northside to the next round.

“I was pumped because for one, I’ve never taken the ball to left field before in my life. I’m always a pull hitter,” Adams said. “I prayed before I went up there, so I know the one and only he helped me up there.”

“I had faith in Kendall. She’s always come through for us all year and even last year. I knew she was going to do it.”

Alligood connected with a fastball and smashed it up the middle, off second base and into center field, scoring Adams and sending the Panthers to the next round.

“She’s been on time and going up to bat, she said, ‘I got your back, I got your back.’ And she did,” Youmans said. “Like I said before, these girls are confident in their ability to play, I’m confident in them and it shows.”

With the win, Northside preserves its undefeated record, improving to 24-0 (12-0 Coastal Plains), and sits just one win away from the state championship, two wins away from softball immortality.