A coach’s mantra for baseball is to “go out and have fun.” They say it helps keep players lose, minimizing errors and nervous at-bats. That’s especially true of summer baseball. Players from the youth level to high-school age are aiming to better themselves while also enjoying their summer vacation.

Beaufort County Post 15’s game against Clayton on Wednesday had all the fun and excitement one could hope for. The Marlins got clutch plays down the stretch to walk off with a 4-3 win, propelling them into their final three games of the season this weekend.

“I had a ball,” coach Donell Albritton said. He admitted her was nervous in the late stages of the game. “I wish I had been a spectator for this one. These are the kind you really enjoy — fast paced, nobody made errors where you felt bat because it cost a team the game. Our kids went out and won it.”

A leadoff double and a two-strike single back up the middle gave Clayton a 1-0 lead in the top of the second. Tyler Rowe began his dominant night for Post 15 when he led off the bottom of the third with a single through the right side. He moved to second on a bunt single from Ryan Kilibabek, then to third on a throwing error. He came home to knot the game at one apiece thanks to a sacrifice fly off the bat of Eli Maxey.

The Marlins played from behind for much of the game, though, as Clayton used consecutive RBI singles to take a 3-1 lead in the top of the fifth. The lead didn’t last long, though. Colby Case jumpstarted the bottom of the stanza with a single to centerfield.

Rowe then stepped up and shifted the momentum of the game with one swing of his bat. He ripped a shot to centerfield. Clayton’s fielder ran full speed into the fence trying to make the play, but the ball bounced off of his glove and over the fence for a two-run homer.

Beaufort County was able to stymie Clayton in the top of the seventh thanks to a 4-6-3 double play turned by second baseman Brodie Moore. With two outs in the bottom of the inning, Kolibabek took his first pitch and sent it into left field for a base hit. He was able to scamper around the bases when Maxey drilled a hard one deep into left-centerfield.

“It gets the team up. I told Brodie that him turning that double play gives us the chance to walk off,” Albritton said. “We don’t turn that double play, we’re already low on pitching. We’ve got three more games coming up in the next three days, so pitching is limited. We needed to play a clean game in the field, and we did.”

Will Crisp put in four innings of work on the mound before handing the ball to Zach Woolard. The two helped save arms as the Marlins aim to get to .500 in conference by the end of the regular season.