MANTEO — Battling temperatures that reached triple digits, Post 15 rallied in the bottom of the seventh to erase a two-run deficit and force extra innings. But in the end, No. 8-seeded Dare County, the tournament host, proved to be a little cooler under pressure, fighting back in the bottom of the ninth to knock off top-seeded Beaufort County, 7-4, in the first round of the Junior American Legion Area 1 Tournament held at Manteo High School.

“We knew this game would be this way,” said head coach Glenn Marsh. “There was no doubt it would be a war and it was. You saw the effort my guys gave — two outs, two strikes and we find a way to tie it up in the bottom of the seventh. I couldn’t be more proud of their effort. It was unbelievable.”

Entering with a 5-9 record, Post 26 was the undisputed underdog, despite playing Post 15 to two close games during the regular season, including one that needed extra innings. Thursday’s thermometer-topping first rounder would also need two extra frames.

Beaufort County starter Tripp Barfield, who boasted a 2.69 ERA entering the contest, came through with another quality start, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits and two walks, striking out seven. Barfield pounded the inside of the strike zone and limited the host to just one extra-base hit. However, the rising junior was matched pitch-for-pitch by his counterpart.

Using a mid-grade fastball and a sweeping breaking ball, Post 26 starter Taylor High played for contact, coercing fly ball after fly ball and frustrating the Beaufort County bats. High tossed six-plus innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits and two walks, identical numbers to Barfield. High finished with six strikeouts.

Dare County broke the score open in the second inning after Richard Fischer connected with a Barfield fastball and hit a shot to the gap in right-center. The next batter, Chipper McPherson, smacked an RBI single to left, giving his team an early advantage.

Post 26 added another two runs to its lead in the third on a walk and hits by Mike Allen and Braxton Hughes, but the No. 1 seed finally had an answer in the bottom half of the frame.

High beaned leadoff man Tanner Alligood and walked Austin Roscoe to put the first two batters on. Then, Barfield helped himself with a hard-hit single to right, scoring Alligood from second and moving Roscoe to third, who later came around to score on a balk.

“Early on they strung a few hits together,” Marsh said. “We might not have been quite as sharp as we hoped to be right in the beginning, but we found a way. We got back in the game. Again, Dare County is just an unbelievable team, not a typical No. 8 seed.”

Both pitchers kept each other’s lineups at bay for the next three frames, until Dare County made it a 4-2 game in the bottom of the sixth after a single and a throwing error at third base.

Down two runs in the bottom of the seventh, Beaufort County did what it usually does — fight. An error at third put Cooper Anderson on and Brantley Cutler turned a lengthy at bat into an RBI single up the middle.

Taylor Featherstone came in to relieve High and struck out his first batter, walked Alligood and struck out Roscoe on a breaking ball. With two outs and two strikes, Post 15’s leading hitter at a .400 clip, Logan Little, came through with a blooping single to the gap in right-center, scoring Cutler and tying the game at four. Alligood, however, would be left stranded at third.

Roscoe, who battled out of a jam in the top of the seventh, came back and retired the side in the eighth, but the Pirates would again leave a runner stranded at third base in the bottom of the frame. Eventually, that would catch up to them.

In the top of the ninth, Roscoe’s command gave into the heat. He hit two batters and left two pitches up in the zone, pitches Allen and McPherson turned into RBI doubles, sealing the upset win for Dare County.

Little finished with two of the team’s six hits, while Roscoe managed to work his way on base three times.

The loss drops Beaufort County to 14-6 and move the Pirates into the loser’s bracket, while Dare County advances to the second round.