From staff reports

The Troup County all-stars pushed three across runs in the bottom of the fifth inning on the way to a 3-2 victory over Tennessee on the opening of the Junior Dixie Boys World Series in Enterprise, Ala.

Matt Morton, who pitched five innings of no-hit ball, was the winning pitcher, while Dustin Vaught pitched two innings of relief to get the save.

In Seneca, S.C., meanwhile, the Troup all-stars blanked North Carolina 8-0 in the Dixie Boys Baseball World Series.

In Alabama, Jaylen Colton led off the fourth inning with a single, and he later scored on a two-out base hit by Vaught.

Dre Leonard then came through with a two-run double to bring in two more runs, and Troup had its first lead of the game.

Tennessee had the tying run on third in the top of the seventh, but Vaught struck out the final batter of the game to preserve the victory.

Vaught got the strikeout on an off-speed pitch that was called for a third strike.

“The inning before that, I struck out the last batter on the same pitch,” Vaught said. “So I just kept on waiting for that pitch.”

As for Morton, it was a remarkable effort with 11 strikeouts and of course no hits.

“I was a little nervous at the start, but I started throwing strikes and the defense helped a lot,” Morton said.

In South Carolina, Troup earned a second round showdown with Henderson (Texas) today at 4 p.m.

Texas defeated Amelia (Va.) 5-4 Saturday.

Kane Keith started and pitched five innings for Troup, notching eight strikeouts and had no walks.

Cord Carson pitched the final inning in relief duty.

“(The pitchers) were helped by a stellar performance by our defense,” Alise said.

Troup built a 2-0 through three innings and added three in the fourth to have a 5-0 lead.

Hunter Heath had an RBI to start the scoring, with Brandon Butts and Josh Alise each notching two RBIs later in the game.

Zak Murphy, who also had an RBI, played a great game at catcher, according to Alise.

Late in the game, a two-run homer by Dalton Hadley sealed the blowout win for Troup.

“Sometimes we can be a bit slow coming out of the gate,” Alise said. “But you could see the maturity of the team, and you know they’re on task. We’re certainly glad we’re moving on, but you can get a sense of understanding that this team knows what it’s doing.”

The game against the Texas state champions will be an even bigger test for Troup, but Alise and the team won’t be intimidated in the least.

“You can see that look in their eyes,” Alise said of his team. “It makes you feel good.”