LUMBERTON — The mission was simple: to field the most competitive under-15 baseball team made up of Beaufort County’s top players from the Junior Babe Ruth League.

When the final pitch was thrown on a sweltering Sunday afternoon, Bobby Boyd, head coach of the Beaufort County 15U All-Stars, made one thing clear — the team should be proud of what it accomplished this summer season.

“It was a great experience,” Boyd said. “This was the best the county could offer and I think the proof is in the results … That was the biggest thing as coaches, they were coachable, did what we asked and got results. They did their best and you can’t ask for more than that.”

Representing their county with pride, the 15U All-Stars finish with a Junior Babe Ruth District 6 title, a 2-2 record in the state tournament, held in Lumberton over the weekend, and a 5-2 overall record. It’s the first year the county has pulled players from all seven municipalities to form a single unit. Needless to say, it’s certainly not the last.

“Everybody was so supportive — the coaches, the parents, everybody,” Boyd said. “It was just a great experience for the first time of having the 15U All-Stars in Beaufort County.

“You never heard anyone say they lived in Washington or somewhere else. They all knew they were representing something bigger than themselves. It was just awesome.”

Beaufort County opened the tournament on Friday with a 3-1 loss to neighboring Pitt County, customarily a strong offensive team.

While Pitt County pitcher Trey Ternigan was able to limit Beaufort County to just one run in the fourth inning — a Reggie Bishop doubled followed by a sacrifice fly — Zack Griffin limited the opposition to eight base runners through seven innings, picking up seven strikeouts in the process. Despite the strong performance from the team’s ace, Beaufort County would be shoveled into the losers’ bracket and need to fight their way to Sunday.

Beaufort County powered its way to a 14-13, walk-off win on Saturday against Crystal Coastal, a team Beaufort County saw in the District 6 tournament.

Reggie Bishop, Dee Ebron, Nick Hardison, Cody Pickham, Colby Case and Colton Baker all worked their way on base in the bottom of the first, giving their team a quick four-run advantage. But in the top of the second, Crystal Coast struck for seven runs on a collection of singles and a Luke Lewis double.

Down 8-4, the top of the lineup again came through for Beaufort County, as Bishop, Hardison, Matthew Marslender, Pinkham, Case, Nick Cooper and Ryan Kolibabek all reached, virtually erasing the previous frame with six runs of their own.

By the end of the sixth, the offensive-minded ballgame was knotted at 13 and it was Beaufort County who came through in the end. Hardison worked his way on base via walk and Marslender reached on an error. After another walk to Pinkham, Hardison came home to score on a wild pitch, advancing Beaufort County to Sunday with the win.

The bats, along with the temperature, remained scolding hot heading into the mid-day matchup with Roanoke Rapids, which Beaufort County easily took 20-10.

Facing a 5-1 deficit after three innings, Beaufort County exploded for nine runs in the fourth on a slew of errors and hits by Bishop, Kolibabek and Baker. The team tacked on another six runs in the sixth inning and four in the seventh.

Pinkham finished the game 3-for-5, reaching all five times (twice via errors), while Bishop went 2-for-3 with three runs scored.

Because Beaufort County was in the losers’ bracket, the team was forced to come out for a second game at 3:30 p.m., a double-header in on-the-field temperatures exceeding 100 degrees.

A rested Pitt County team would end Beaufort County’s season in defeat, a 16-8 loss.

“Playing 14 innings in 100 degree heat is kind of tough, but we had our chances,” Boyd said. “They scored six in the top of the seventh and we sort of ran out of pitching.”

Despite the loss, Ebron, Hardison, Marslender, Pinkham and Baker all finished with two hits apiece in the team’s final game of the season.

“To know that you still have a chance with a little break here or there with either one of those Pitt County games, there’s nothing these guys should hang their head about,” Boyd said.