Sports

Friday, Jul. 25, 2008

Ozone World Series starts on Saturday

Pascagoula hosts Dixie Youth tourney

Fireworks will be going off today in Pascagoula with the opening ceremonies for the Dixie Youth 11-12 Year-Old Ozone World Series.

First, there will be a home run derby at 1 p.m. at Gibson Field for the sluggers of the 12 teams competing in the event.

Then there will be the opening ceremonies at War Memorial Stadium in Pascagoula at 7 p.m., with the teams walking around the inside of the stadium behind their state flags. Following a speech by former Ole Miss and Chicago White Sox star Chris Snopek, there will be a fireworks display.

Baseball action begins on Saturday with a pair of games at 3 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.

The tournament runs through Thursday, with the title game at 11 a.m.

"We expect a great week," said Bill Glenn, who handles public relations for the tournament. "It is a testament to the Pascagoula community. There is a lot of work to do but then we can settle down and watch baseball on Saturday. There is a lot of talent here."

Pascagoula is the host team. The 11 state champions are Greenville South (Mississippi), Texarkana West (Arkansas), Christiansburg (Virginia), Shreveport (Louisiana), North Stanly (North Carolina), Texarkana (Texas), Columbia County (Georgia), Dothan National Blue (Alabama), West Volusia American (Florida), Sumter (South Carolina), and Lebanon (Tennessee).

Ozone breaks from the traditional 11-12 year-old rules in that bases are 70 feet apart, players can lead off bases and the mound is 50 feet from home plate.