PINETOWN — The game lasted until nearly 1:30 a.m. Washington and Northside went back and forth, matching one another tit for tat with the Easter tournament championship on the line. In the end, it was a two-out offensive explosion that earned the Pam Pack the 8-6 win and tournament title.

The hosting Panthers were one out from winning the title. Leading 4-3, they retired Washington’s first two batters before sophomore Tyler Harrell knocked arguably the biggest hit of his young career — a line-drive single to right-center field. He reached second due to a fielding error in the outfield.

“I was just trying to put the ball in play and get a run in,” Harrell said. “It started everything.”

Just like that, Washington came to life.

Chris Sulc doubled to the same gap in the outfield, plating Harrell for the tying run. No. 1 spot batter Matt Black drew a walk on a full count. Cody Godley was issued a walk to load the bases. All three came in thanks to Frederick Holscher’s game-winning double.

Holscher scored on a passed ball and Neill Jennings walked, which led to a pitching change for the Panthers. Parker Boyd took over for Zach Griffin. He let two more get in scoring position, but fanned Brown to escape the inning.

“Guys didn’t give up. They kept fighting,” said Washington coach Kevin Leggett. “We had some struggles with offense earlier in the game. They just felt in their heart that they were going to come back and win it. Even with two outs, two strikes, they came up big for us.”

Northside coach Keith Boyd added, “You’re an out away from winning 4-3. Hats off to Washington. They put some hits together, got that 8-4 lead and were hitting the baseball.”

The sudden four-run hole was deflating, but Northside battled on. Boyd sparked the offense immediately with a double down the left-field line. He advanced to third on Tanner Alligood’s groundout to the pitcher. Brock Marsh and Nick Crisp had back-to-back one-out base hits to no man’s land shallow in the outfield, each plating runs.

Northside was within two, 8-6, with two outs to work with. It appeared the game was over when Chase Sauls and Reg Bishop grounded out on consecutive at bats. The two sides lined up, shook hands and everyone was ready to head home after the late game.

However, some kind of interference call made by the umpire behind the plate kept the game alive. Crisp took first base and Holscher hit Ben Selby with a pitch. The tying runs were on base, but Ethan Cosentino’s groundout marked the end of Northside’s comeback attempt.

“The big thing I saw tonight was taking adversity, showing some maturity and not getting down. You’re an out away from winning the Easter tournament and we give up five runs. We came in and we had a leadoff double. We came in and we didn’t quit, we didn’t hand our heads. Other times we would have. That’s showing growth and maturity.”

Washington, after going 3-0 and winning the tournament, has plenty to build on as 2-A Eastern Plains Conference competition approaches next week. Northside, too, has plenty of positive takeaways. The Panthers lost their first two meetings with the Pam Pack by a combined 18-3. Not only did they show they can hang with a good 2-A club, but they grew up over the course of the tournament.