By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

The quest for a World Series championship will begin in less than a week for a pair of Troup County baseball teams.

The Dixie Youth Baseball World Series will be held in Ruston, La., and two local teams are among the participants.

The Troup County 9-10-year-old and 11-12-year-old all-star teams will be a part of the World Series that begins on Saturday.

There will be eight teams in each age division, and both tournaments go through Thursday, Aug. 8.

Since it’s a double-elimination tournament, both Troup County teams, or Team Georgia as they’re called now, will play at least two games.

First up will be Saturday’s World Series openers.

Troup’s 11-12-year-old team will face Mississippi at 5:45 p.m., and Troup’s 9-10-year-old team will tangle with South Carolina at 5:45 p.m.

Included in the field are state champions from Georgia, Texas, Arkansas, Florida, Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama, North Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, as well as the host teams from Ruston.

Both Troup teams have already accomplished a great deal getting to this point.

Troup’s 9-10-year-old team won the district tournament and the state tournament to earn its World Series invitation.

Troup is 10-1 in tournament play this summer, and it has won nine consecutive games.

“Our goal was to make the World Series, and now that we did, we might as well go do something,” said Jason Willis, the head coach for the Troup 9-10-year-old team.

Troup’s 11-12-year-old team didn’t have to play in a district tournament.

In the state tournament, Troup beat Wrens 11-0 in the championship game.

In the opening weekend of the state tournament, Troup lost its games to Wrens and Swainsboro.

Those games were used strictly for seeding purposes, and Troup came back the following weekend and went 2-1 to claim the state title.

Troup’s 11-12-year-old team will look to keep the momentum going when it faces Mississippi in its World Series opener.

“We’re excited for the experience, and we can’t wait to hit the field against Mississippi,” said Troup head coach Ron Wilson.

Since the state tournaments ended, both Troup County teams have been busy practicing, as well as raising funds needed to pay for the trip to Lousiana.

DIXIE YOUTH 

WORLD SERIES

WHEN: Aug. 3 through Aug. 9

WHERE: Ruston, La.

WHO: State champions from Georgia, Texas, Arkansas, Florida, Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama, North Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, as well as the host teams from Ruston.