GREENVILLE — Beaufort County’s senior Babe Ruth baseball team made a pact about a month ago to simply have fun on the diamond. The revised outlook worked well. The Pirates played a looser game, had a lively dugout, and enjoyed their time on the field.

It also helped them earn a No. 3 seed in the tournament in Greenville. Cody Godley pitched a three-hit, 6-0 shutout of a UBX team consisting heavily of Rose and Conley players. The win punched their ticket for a championship meeting with Nash County, which beat Farmville Central, shortly after.

Nash County, after being stymied by Beaufort County’s defense early on, led off the third and fourth innings with a double apiece. Hitting became contagious for the opposition. Nash County notched five hits to build a 4-0 lead through four innings en route to a 6-3 win to claim the title.

“A lot of them came to me and said they wanted to play,” Glenn Marsh said of getting the group together this summer. Marsh had coached most of this senior Babe Ruth team with Beaufort County Post 15 over the last two summers.

“We called over here and talked to the director of senior Babe Ruth and got in the league. We had a good season and I’m real proud of them. … They gave a great effort. No complaints, and no regrets.”

The Pirates didn’t go down without a fight. Matthew Marslender led off the sixth inning with a single to left field. With one out, Ethan Cosentino and Braeden Burbage each reached to load the bases.

Reg Bishop reached on an error on a fielder’s choice that let Marslender score the game’s first run. It gave the Pirates a bit of steam as Cosentino came in on a passed ball, and consecutive walks brought in another run. Beaufort County pulled within two, but the threat to tie ended when Nash County turned a double play — its second of the game — on a dropped third strike and gunning down Bishop at second.

“They don’t ever give up,” Marsh said. “They’ve never given up on me. They play for their community and they play for each other. That didn’t surprise me.”

The Pirates got to the championship game with steady hitting coupled with a Godley-led defense. They drew first blood in the first when Bishop belted a one-out single up the middle. He scored when Hunter Sparks followed his knock with a double to right field.

“Cody Godley pitched a great first game tonight. He was unbelievable,” Marsh said. “The defense was working behind him. He was efficient and did a good job.”

Beaufort County put another three runs on the board in the fourth. Marslender plated Alligood on a base hit to second base. Marslender and Brock Marsh each scored in the stanza, too. Sparks scored in the fifth to wrap up the scoring.