Anyone familiar with baseball stat keeping knows that it can be a pretty difficult thing to do, especially if it is your first time doing it in a while.

Northside’s Nick Mirra and Swansboro’s David Becker made things a little easier for me when I covered their baseball game Friday.

The two combined for a shutout into the fifth inning before the Monarchs’ 5-run fifth propelled them to a 6-2 victory. Mirra had 15 strikeouts in a complete-game effort and Becker was solid before running into late trouble.

This was a big win for the Monarchs as the team improved to 5-5 overall and 3-3 in the East Central 2-A Conference. Behind South Lenoir and East Duplin, there is a cluster in the middle of the conference with Northside, Swansboro, Croatan, Richlands and Southwest. Should make for some interesting match ups as the season progresses.

The win was also big as it displayed the continued improvement made by the Monarchs. In seven years of the school’s existence, Northside baseball has never been a powerhouse like it has been in football and basketball.

And while that will not change now, the Monarchs have taken tremendous steps in becoming a competitive program. Head coach Marty Martinez and assistant Robert Johnson have done a fine job in pointing Northside in the right direction.

If you have any updated scores or anything you like to say about Northside or any baseball team, feel free to post it on the blog.  

Now back to the action.