JAMESVILLE — Bath’s 10U all-star team met Whitfield Monday evening with a chance to play for the Little Tar Heel District 7 tournament championship. The game came down to the wire with Bath hanging on, 6-5, to advance to the final day.

After having their first two batters retired in the bottom of the fifth, Bath’s all stars were able to push across an insurance run to take a 6-4 lead. Carson Clinkscales and Shane Biggs drew back-to-back walks. With Bath runners on the corners, Whitfield elected to make a change on the mound.

Drew Vanstaalduinen got acquainted with the new pitcher quickly by knocking a base hit through the left side that scored Clinkscales.

All Bath needed to do was preserve its lead in the top of the sixth. Whitfield got a leadoff single and used a sacrifice bunt to get a runner in scoring position, later making it a one-run game thanks to a single through the left side. Bath was able to induce a groundout to shortstop to strand the tying run on third and win the game.

“I think the biggest key is that, (on Sunday), we walked a lot of people,” coach Mark Clinkscales said. “This time we didn’t. We forced them to put the ball into play and we played the defense behind it. That’s the key. That’s the name of the game — keep guys off base, make the plays behind them and give us a chance to win.”

Bath’s all stars fell behind early when Whitfield tagged them for a pair of runs in the top of the first. They quickly stopped the bleeding thanks to a double play when a Whitfield batter lined out to first base and Clinkscales tagged the base before the runner on first could tag up.

Another excellent defensive play robbed Whitfield of a chance to score in the second. Starting pitcher Andrew Harding, who struck out the leadoff batter, fanned another Whitfield player. Vanstaalduinen then gunned down a baserunner attempting to steal third. His throw found the glove of Nate Battershell, who applied the tag and ended the inning.

The defense kept the game close while Bath waited for the offense to heat up. The team struggled to get key hits with runners on earlier in the tournament, but got exactly that in the bottom of the third.

Whitfield issued walks to Gavin Moore and Cooper Charles and hit Harding with a pitch. Bath had the bases loaded with no outs. Wyatt Berry pushed across the team’s first run and, after a pitching change, Clinkscales plated three more with a fly to right field.

After Whitfield leveled the game with two runs in the fourth, Bath again pulled ahead with a run in the bottom half of the stanza. Vanstaalduinen led off and drew a walk before Charlie Dickerson and Battershell came up with consecutive base hits. Moore pushed across Dickerson to give his team the lead again.

It came down to a complete team effort on the part of Bath’s all stars. On offense, they got the key hits with runners in scoring position and were a bit more patient at the plate. On defense, they made the routine plays and did the little things that, in the grand scheme of things, limited Whitefield’s chances.

“At this point, that’s what it’s going to be. It’s going to be all little things,” Clinkscales said. “Little things that they do, little things that we do, and it’s going to come down to those things and who executes. … That’s going to win ball games. They’re a great team, so for us to get this one is great.”