Last Saturday’s eastern regional championship game pitted the underdog, No. 14-seeded Northside Panthers against the top-seeded East Carteret Mariners, a dominant outside shooting force that had torn through the section like a bullet through tissue paper.

Refereeing the competition were a collection of guys who had proven to be some of the best in the area, qualified to officiate the top teams on arguably the biggest high school stage with the most on the line, a daunting task for even the most thick skinned of people.

In 32 minutes, though few fixated on the game realized, there was one, just one, blatantly incorrect call — a ball had tipped off a Mariners guard and out of bounds. The official on the near side signaled East Carteret’s way. Other than that, the officials called a pretty solid game with, surprisingly (it doesn’t happen too often), with very few major complaints from either coach down the stretch.

But there they were. Fans from both Northside and East Carteret spewing a relentless barrage of questions, comments and concerns toward the officials, regardless of whether or not their complaints were backed by facts. And, as usual, all the comments seemed to have one thing in common: they were loud, vicious and always supporting the team whose colors they sported.

Seasoned and battle tested, the officials shook off every jest that came from the stands. During a timeout, one official even turned his head to a disgruntled fan and started laughing.

Here in Beaufort County, the same rotation of 8-10 referees monitored nearly every regular season game for Washington, Northside and Southside. In every single one of those games, in the heat of the moment, they were the recipients of some kind of criticism.

Individually, every referee has his or her flaws. Some call a conservative game, others are more liberal and some even forget a rule here and there. Whatever you think of a certain officiating crew or referee, they all deserve a round of applause for making it through a mentally exhausting season. Most don’t and never do get enough credit.

As the spring sports season is underway, let’s lay off the umpires, soccer officials and timekeepers just a little bit more than usual. Sure, if a strike is called a ball, as a fan, you’re going to react. But like the hitter stepping to the plate, maybe it’s time to consider adjusting your strike zone.