JAMESVILLE — Bath’s 10U all-star team had a tall task in front of them Wednesday evening. The boys had to win back-to-back games to claim the Little Tar Heel District 7 tournament title. They fell short with their comeback attempt in the first game against South Edgecombe, losing 6-4.

Bath nearly pulled off the improbable, though. The all stars faced a 6-0 deficit in the top of the sixth. They had to score six times just for a chance to keep their hopes alive.

They got off to a great start in the sixth when Landon Modlin and Carson Clinkscales both drew walks and a pitch hit Shane Biggs to load the bases with no outs. It effectively ended the night for the South Edgecombe pitcher that had just come on.

South Edgecombe elected to make another pitching change. Bath was able to score four runs thanks to walks and hits from Nate Battershell and Gavin Moore. That was all they would get, though, as South Edgecombe held on for the win.

“This was a great group of kids to work with,” coach Mark Clinkscales said, reflecting on this season and Bath’s experience in the tournament. “You couldn’t ask for a better group of guys — mannerly, polite, but they played hard and they did everything we wanted to do. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Even though Bath couldn’t come up with the win, the boys showed what kind of baseball players they are with the way they never gave up.

“Right before we went out in the top of the sixth, I said, ‘don’t let it end like this. Find a way. We can do this and pull it out,’” Clinkscales said. “They were very positive and they had a chance. We had the tying run on first.

“All we needed was another hit. It’s the same story — getting one hit to fall in and we just couldn’t get it to fall in.”

The two defenses dueled throughout the first half of the game. Bath left five runners on base in the first three stanzas before South Edgecombe broke through with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third.

Prior to its four-run sixth inning, Bath’s best opportunity came in the top of the fourth. Trailing 2-0, the all stars were able to load the bases with no outs when Biggs and Drew Vanstaalduinen drew back-to-back leadoff walks and Charlie Dickerson laid down a bunt for a base hit.

South Edgecombe preserved its lead by throwing a runner out at the plate between a pair of strikeouts. That defensive stand opened the door for it to pull further ahead in the bottom of the frame. With one out and the bases loaded, Bath was able to negate a run at the plate.

However, South Edgecombe was able to get a big two-run shot to left field followed by a pop up into no man’s land in right field. The fourth proved to be a turning point in that Bath couldn’t capitalize on its chances in the top of the inning and failed to hold off South Edgecombe’s offense in the bottom.

“It’s about the small moments in the game. Individual plays make such a difference,” Clinkscales said. “(South Edgecombe) came through in the clutch and we didn’t. We had a chance and we were just a hit or two or a play or two away. We gave ourselves a chance and that’s all you can ask.”