The Natchez Wallace All-Stars used the motto &uot;I Believe&uot; on their way to capturing the Dixie Youth 11-12 State Tournament last week in Laurel.

You can believe they are still believing as the Dixie Youth 11-12 World Series begins play tomorrow in Marshall, Texas.

&uot;We’re going with the same slogan,&uot; said Natchez coach David New Jr. &uot;I think our boys are confident and ready to go.&uot;

New first used the motto several years ago for a player on his All-Star team.

&uot;Rod Lewis played for me and he was struggling a little bit with the bat,&uot; New said. &uot;He came down the third base line when we were playing Brookhaven in a district tournament and I told him nothing was wrong, he just had to start believing in himself. He turned around and said, ‘Coach, I believe.’ He then went up there and hit a home run and from that day on he tore the ball up.&uot;

Lewis was a standout at Natchez High before going on to play at William Carey College.

New will be counting on more confidence with his latest team, which is representing the state of Mississippi. Natchez will face Columbia County of Appling, Ga., at 6 p.m. in a first round contest.

Natchez leaves at 9 a.m. today. The coaches will have a credentials meeting at 3:30 p.m. At 6 p.m., all of the teams will be served dinner at the Marshall Civic Center and go from there to the Marshall High football stadium for a fireworks show.

Play begins tomorrow.

&uot;The first game is very important because it will say a lot about how well we do there,&uot; New said.

During sub-district, district and state tournament play, 11-12 All-Star teams batted all 13 players, while nine were in the field.

Only nine can bat in World Series play.

&uot;That’s the biggest adjustment we have to deal with,&uot;&160;New said. &uot;But our boys will be able to handle it. Basically we’re going with the same thing that got us there.&uot;