NEW YORK — I was a Cub Scout growing up in New Bedford, our troop meeting at St. Theresa’s Church in the North End.

One of the competitions we had was to take a bag of assorted stuff — pieces of wood, a few feet of string, a bunch of screws, sections of cloth, etc. — and use it all to make something.

It was a test of our ability to see something in that bag of mismatched parts that nobody else did.

Kind of like what Alex Cora has done with the Red Sox this season.

He started spring training without any established major league starters once Lucas Giolito was lost to elbow surgery.

He had Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin in the bullpen but no sure things beyond the two veterans.

The lineup lacked power and experience and then its linchpin once Trevor Story was lost for the season with a shoulder injury on April 5.

The roster as a whole had too many lefthanded hitters and not enough lefthanded pitchers. It still does.

New chief baseball officer Craig Breslow readily admitted the winter had not worked out how he hoped.

Five months later, the Sox are 49-40 after beating the Yankees, 3-0, on Sunday night and very much in the hunt for a playoff spot with the season more than half over. It’s not perfect, but they’re a competitive team that plays hard and is fun to watch.

Rafael Devers, Jarren Duran, and Tanner Houck will represent the organization in the All-Star Game. Kenley Jansen and Connor Wong had a case, too.

Cora took a bag of spare parts and built a contender.

Giolito only knew Cora from across the field until this season. He has been around the team quite a bit as he recovers from elbow surgery and has been impressed with how Cora has led the team around the obstacles put in their way.

“The bullpen management, managing the innings for the starters. Our situational hitting, bringing in pinch hitters, it’s all been good,” Giolito said.

“We were dealt a strange hand at the beginning of the year and he’s been able to put these guys in the right position and let their talent shine while some of them are still developing in the big leagues.”

Devers, Duran, and Houck are homegrown players, a testament to the organization’s ability to develop talent.

It’s a good sign for the future. A better one would be to work a contract extension with Cora during the All-Star break, or at least start the process.

Cora is signed through the end of the season and he has been careful to say he will wait until then to decide what he does next. He won’t even say he wants to stay with the Sox, which is smart.

Every manager was paying attention when the Cubs signed Craig Counsell to a five-year, $40 million deal in November. That’s a big leap from the $2.75 million Cora is making this season.

But Cora has a World Series ring and Counsell does not. Cora also has shown the ability to handle the demands of a big market. That includes the twice-daily press conferences during the season that set the tone for the organization in the eyes of the public.

More than anything, this young team has shown it can win with Cora on the top step of the dugout. With any other candidate, it’ll just be a guess.

That Duran and Houck are headed to the All-Star Game is further evidence that Cora should be in place when Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, and Kyle Teel reach the majors.

Cora showed he could manage stars in 2018. This year has shown he can succeed with a younger team and unproven talent. The Red Sox are going to need that in the years ahead.

Then there’s this: the perception around the game and certainly in the eyes of the fan base is that the Sox are succeeding despite the actions of ownership.

Having Devers, Brayan Bello, and Ceddanne Rafaela signed to long-term contracts dispels some of that notion. Locking down Cora another 3-5 years would be a louder statement.

It’s that or compete against him next season.

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Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him @PeteAbe.