By Ross Johnson

Sports Writer

It’s not over yet for the Troup County 9-10 all-stars.

The team won the Dixie Youth Baseball World Series in Laurel, Miss., earlier this month, and they’ll head to Memphis, Tenn., today to compete in the National Youth Baseball Championships.

The tournament is comprised of eight league champions from across the nation, and Troup will begin its quest for a national title at 3 p.m. with the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) champions from Aledo, Texas.

Head coach Jay Anderson knows his team will be facing the nation’s best competition this weekend.

“A lot of these teams we’re facing are travel teams, and they can recruit,” Anderson said. “That means they can pick from 10,000 10-year-olds, depending on the city they live in.

“Half the teams will be travel teams, and the other half will be recreational all-star teams like us.”

Each team in the tournament is guaranteed three games, with one today and two Friday.

The teams that win at least two games will advance, putting them in the semifinals on Saturday.

Anderson pointed to Troup’s third game, which is against the United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) champs from San Diego, Calif., as a potential land mine.

Already crowned a national champion in their league, Anderson said San Diego has its own Web site and should be considered one of the favorites to win this weekend’s tournament.

Troup’s second game will be Friday at 10 a.m. against the Super Series-champion Dallas Tigers.

The tournament is nationally renowned, and some games will be aired on the MLB Network.

All games will be available to watch on www.mlb.com.

After winning the World Series, Anderson and the team took a week-long hiatus to gather up their strength.

Last Thursday, the team was back at it on the practice field, and Anderson said not much has changed with the team’s preparation.

“We’ve been doing the same things at practice,” Anderson said. “We won’t be messing with what’s worked.”

While much of their competition in the tournament is unknown, Anderson and his team have already accomplished what they set out to do this summer.

“Winning the (Dixie Youth) World Series was the goal,” Anderson said. “This is our reward. Anything else is icing on the cake.”