It hasn’t been an easy season for the Northside Lady Bears.

They have dealt with various injuries and also started 7A-Central play at 0-6.

But with five wins in their past eight games, capped by a dramatic extra-inning comeback win Friday against Southside, the Lady Bears are putting things together at the right time as they head to state.

Northside (7-11), the No. 6 seed from the Central, will face Rogers (No. 3 seed from the West) at 12:30 p.m. today in the opening round of the 7A state tourney in Cabot.

“It’s been a struggle all season, we’ve had several injuries, we’ve had to move several girls to different spots and every time I’ve done that, they say ‘Whatever you need me to do coach, we’ll take care of it,’ and they did,” Northside coach Kelly Nickell said.


Senior pitcher Sydney Green leads Northside in batting (.528) and on-base percentage (.554). She has also struck out 52 batters in 89 2/3 innings.

Freshman Hannah Entrekin has the most RBIs with 16, while sophomore Jazz Coleman has three homers. Senior Olivia Williams is the hits leader with 34, and is second in batting at .507.

If Northside wins, the Lady Bears advance to Friday’s quarterfinals to face 7A-Central runner-up Cabot.
