Opp’s 13-to-15-year-old Babe Ruth All-Stars didn’t panic when they dropped down to the loser’s bracket at the district tournament in Kinston over the weekend.

The Bobcats went on to win five straight games after falling to Covington County 12-11 on Friday night, to make it to the championship.

Opp beat Covington County 9-1 and 12-0 to claim the district title and a berth to the state tournament, which starts on July 13, at LBWCC.

Bobcats coach Aaron Holloway said overall, the tournament was great for the boys

“It was a great experience,” Holloway said. “Those boys, I can’t believe how well they played. It was something.”

In the 9-1 victory, Opp’s Cutter Gafford cut straight through five innings of pitching, only giving up one run. Orlando Lacey later came in to relieve and pitched the last two innings without giving up a run.

Opp’s Collin Holloway and Lacey went 3-for-4 each in the game to lead Opp.

“We started off scoring four runs in the first,” Holloway said. “We jumped on them early. Cutter pitched a great game. He basically shut them down. Throughout the course of the rest of the game, the main damage was done in that first inning.”

In their second game 12-0 victory, which went six innings for a mercy-rule win, the Bobcats accounted multiple hits throughout the game.

Lacey started on the mound for Opp, pithing five innings of shutout baseball. In the last inning, Gafford pitched in the sixth to close out the mercy-rule win.

Opp reached its 10-run mark when Gregory House got a big hit to finish the game in the top of the sixth.

Lucas Worley went 3-for-4 with three to four RBIs to lead the Bobcats.

The bracket for the 13-to-15-year-old Babe Ruth State Tournament hasn’t been made yet.

The Star-News will update its readers when it becomes available.