These last two weeks have seen Beaufort County host two large, youth sports tournaments. Chocowinity held the Babe Ruth softball state tournament two weeks ago. This past week, the Susiegray McConnell Sports Complex in Washington was the site for the Little Tar Heel League district baseball tournament.

Both tournaments were executed masterfully thanks to careful work and long hours put in by numerous people: recreation department officials, coaches, volunteers, umpires and more. Just this past weekend, many of those people were at the complex for over 12 hours, and most of them had to return to work come Monday.

In fact, most of them likely found work to be a bit of a reprieve in that they wouldn’t be out in the hot sun for half a day.

All the work for both tournaments paid dividends. Both events produced top-notch competition. In Chocowinity, East Beaufort’s 16U all stars emerged victorious. They later won the southeast regional in Virginia, and will be headed to Florida next week for the World Series.

In baseball, Chocowinity 12U punched its ticket to the next stage of the tournament. Jamesville played spoiler for other local teams. Washington White 10U had a chance to advance to the end of the 10U tournament, which was held at a different site, but fell short. Jamesville 15U topped Bath twice on Monday to win in that age division.

Even more important than the entertaining games was the safety of all involved. Weather threatened the baseball tournament on a handful of occasions. All involved were quick in pausing games so as not to endanger players when storms were coming. All staff also made sure that umpires, coaches and players stayed hydrated in the heat.

These last two weeks have been a great showcase of what the children in Beaufort County and eastern North Carolina can do. It wouldn’t have been possible without all the manpower, so a “thank you” to all involved is well deserved.