The Lincoln County Nationals make their first appearance in theDixie Youth Baseball League AAA 10s State Championship Tournamentthat is being hosted at the Larry Doleac Youth Sports Complex inHattiesburg. Action begins Saturday.

“I am very proud that we are having a chance to represent LincolnCounty in the tournament,” said head coach Stan Winborne. “My guysare very excited to make it this far. I just wished that we had alittle more time to prepare.”

Winborne’s team is still recovering from the grueling SouthRegional Tournament at Laurel. The Nationals were beaten byPascagoula and Laurel Wednesday night in the finals.

The Nationals play Cleveland West, a third place team from theNorth Regional, at 6 p.m. Saturday. The other games in the stateTournament will begin with Iuka versus Laurel Nationals at 4 p.m.In the nightcap, Kosciusko faces Pascagoula at 8 p.m.

This double-elimination tournament will feature six teams with thechampion moving on to play in the Dixie Youth Baseball AAA WorldSeries hosted by Gonzales, La. The AAA World Series Tournamentstarts August 7th and will finished August 12th.

Stan Winborne and four of his players: Dylan Winborne, TannerWaldrop, Dillon Griffin and Peyton Smith; were members from lastyear’s 9-yeare-old Lincoln County Americans squad that fell onegame short from making the state tourney. Will bring experience tothe table about playing in Hattiesburg.

“Larry Doleac Youth Sports Complex is the nicest park that I haveseen thus far,” continued Coach Winborne. “It is well equipped andis an extremely eye-pleasing place to play.”

The Nationals will be preparing for Cleveland West team on a shortrest period and one day of practice. “Hopefully, we will be readyto play,” added Winborne. “We are currently trying to gatheredinformation about the Cleveland team to be able to get some helpfultips to use.”

Members of Lincoln County Nationals 10s team are Dylan Winborne,Dawson Zumbro, Ben Springfield, Keith Robinson, Tucker Watts,Tanner Waldrop, Dillon Griffin, Peyton Smith, Dalton Fortado, TraceBrady, Josh Nations and Cade Cangemi. Assistant coaches are LeeZumbro and Brad Waldrop.

In the South region finals, Lincoln County lost to the LaurelNationals 13-12 and to Pascagoula 11-4 in a grueling sweat soakeddouble feature.

Lincoln County fans can follow these directions to the Complex:Travel Highway 49 South; Take HWY 11/Broadway Dr. South towardPurvis and go 1.6 miles. Take a left onto Parkway Blvd and followthe signs to the Park.