The Prince Edward-Farmville Youth Association (PEFYA) Instructional All-Stars fought hard but ultimately fell short of finishing among the top three teams in the 2018 Dixie Youth Baseball Machine Pitch All-Star District 5 Tournament in Victoria.

This year, the top three District 5 teams advanced to the state tournament in South Hill.

The third-place game pitted PEFYA against the Charlotte County All-Stars on Tuesday. Each team had two losses in the double-elimination tournament, meaning they were eliminated from contention for the district title, but they still had a chance at the third state berth.

Trailing 9-3 after the fifth inning, the PEFYA All-Stars rallied in the sixth and final inning but ended up falling 9-7.

It was the same score by which Prince Edward-Farmville defeated Charlotte County on Saturday to open its tournament run.

On Sunday, PEFYA lost 8-2 to eventual district champion Lunenburg County, the host team, and on Monday, Prince Edward-Farmville fell 12-11 to the Blackstone All-Stars in a back-and-forth contest.

After that game, PEFYA All-Stars Manager Nate Boehmer said his players performed well.

“They hit the ball, no strikeouts,” he said. “Again, they can tighten up a few errors, but they played pretty well … They all had fun.”

Pleased with how they handled the loss, he later added, “I love to teach them baseball, but sportsmanship and a good attitude goes further in life and further off the field than this game does.”