SoBo Dixie Majors face Tennessee champ Saturday in World Series opener
- Last Updated on 07:14 AM 07/27/12
- BY Joe Chandler
Halifax County Dixie Majors all-star team manager Justin King says his team is prepared to face the Tennessee state champion at 1 p.m. Saturday in the team’s opening game in the Dixie Majors World Series in Laurel, Miss.
“We had a couple of close, competitive games in winning the state tournament,” King said.
“We had an intra-squad game Tuesday night and all of our pitchers threw. Our pitching looked good, and our hitting looked good. I think we’re as prepared as we can be.”
King, a former Halifax County High School and Ferrum College baseball standout and a former player in local Dixie Majors league, is making his first trip to the World Series as a team manager.
He feels his team has the potential to make an impact in the World Series.
“I think if we can get down there and win a couple of games that would be a good showing,” he remarked.
“You run into a bunch of good pitching in the World Series. You run into teams that have a lot of college kids that have played college ball for a year, kids that know their roles well. You might face a team that has three or four kids on the bench that are college kids that are starting pitchers for their college teams sitting on the bench ready to go.”
Despite the high quality of the pitching that his team is expected to see in the World Series, King says he feels his team has the capability of producing some offense.
“If our guys hit the way they did during the state tournament, I don’t care who they put on the mound, we’ll score some runs,” King pointed out.
“We’ve got good defense, and our pitching held up well during the state tournament. I think it will hold up in the World Series.”
One of the good things about this Halifax County team is its versatility. Several players on the team have the ability to play more than one position.
“I think our versatility, the ability of several of our players to play dual positions, is very important,” he said.
“For instance, Dylan Hendricks was the catcher for the Comets varsity team this season. He played third base during the state tournament. He got some time behind the plate in the intra-squad game.
“When it’s 100 degrees and the humidity is high, it takes a toll on the catchers,” King continued.
“Dylan can take Scott Rickman’s place behind the plate if we need him to do that. We have versatile infielders and outfielders, and that will help a lot in that heat.”
The key to success in the World Series, King says, is getting hits at the right time time and solid performances from the team’s pitchers.
“It comes down to hitting the ball, getting timely hits, and good pitching,” he noted.
“If our pitching staff gives us a performance like we had in the state tournament, I think we’ll surprise some people.”
