Baseball Recap: North Johnston Extends Winning Streak to Three

North Johnston barely beat Franklin Academy the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. Everything went the North Johnston Panthers' way against the Franklin Academy Patriots on Wednesday as the North Johnston Panthers made off with a 12-2 win. Considering the Panthers have won three games by more than nine runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.

Reid Willoughby

Runs Batted In (Career)

03/19/25 @ Franklin Academy	3
03/18/25 vs Spring Creek	2
03/07/25 @ Fike	2
03/14/25 @ Neuse Charter	1
03/06/25 vs Franklin Academy	1

Tyler Coates and Reid Willoughby made a big impact no matter where they played. Throwing, Coates struck out ten batters over 5.2 innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off three hits. Meanwhile, Willoughby pitched 1.1 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. He has become a key player for North Johnston: the team is undefeated when he allows at most three hits, but 2-3 otherwise. At the plate, Coates went 2-for-3 with three RBI and one stolen base, while Willoughby went 1-for-5 with three RBI and one double. The dominant performance gave Willoughby a new career-high in RBI.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Zach Peacock, who scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances. He also brought in an RBI, marking his first of the season. Another player making a difference was Charlie Barnes, who scored two runs while going 2-for-3.

North Johnston kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. They are a perfect 3-0 when they post 11 or more hits.

The victory (which was North Johnston's third in a row) raised their record to 5-3. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to hits: they averaged an imposing 12.67 hits in those games compared to only 3.8 in the others. As for Franklin Academy, their defeat was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season, which dropped their record down to 0-6.

Looking ahead, North Johnston will head out to take on Beddingfield at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. North Johnston is facing Beddingfield at the right time seeing as Beddingfield is stuck on a six-game losing streak. As for Franklin Academy, they will welcome Cary Academy at 4:00 p.m. on Friday.