VIDALIA, La. &045; A three-sport standout his senior year of high school, Bronson Rhodes loves to play.

Now he’ll try out coaching.

The former Huntington star will serve as a player-coach this weekend when the East Central Dixie Major All-Stars head to Rayville for the district tournament. With head coach Leo Eliser in Bastrop to coach the 15- and 16-year-old all-stars in their district tournament, that left a vacancy on the staff.

That’s where Rhodes &045; the author of the knuckleball &045; will step in.

&uot;When he first told me, I thought I wasn’t going to play,&uot; Rhodes said. &uot;I wasn’t going to go and just coach. I didn’t like that too much. I might go into coaching, but I’ve always been around sports.&uot;

It’s Rhodes heading up a team that’s loaded with talent &045; both new players and returning from last year’s state finalist team. The group is so tight there’s no harboring of resentment of any kind for Rhodes, now in an authoritative position.

In fact, they’re eating it up.

&uot;We sat down and talked about coaches, and after talking to the director we asked if we could have a player-coach,&uot; Eliser said. &uot;Bronson has a good head on him for baseball. We talked to the kids about him, and they all said yes. Bronson jumped at it. He was excited.&uot;

Rhodes accepted after Eliser and Temple first considered Huntington standout Will Moak for the position since he’s inactive due to surgery. Moak, however, declined since he’s still recovering.

&uot;They’re fine with it,&uot; Rhodes said. &uot;They thought the same thing I did at first &045; ‘You’re not playing?’ But they seem to be fine with it.&uot;

Rhodes will be part of a pitching staff that’s pretty stacked with a number of players who can pitch. Mac Ware may be the top arm in the bunch, and others include newcomers Andy Moon and Jason Hayes.

Then there’s a solid lineup of others &045; Gregory Ketchings, Walt Ketchings, A.J. Smith, Jeffery Anderson and Ryan Thomas.

&uot;Power-wise, we ought to be extremely strong,&uot; Eliser said. &uot;Several of those kids have hit home runs in our summer league. After talking to the coach from last year, the heat got to them and they kind of went down. This team here &045; I worked with them last week, and we’ve had about two or three practices. They’re just real hungry and want to play. They really believe in themselves.&uot;

A plus in their favor is the presence of players from Natchez &045; last year’s team was all players from Louisiana &045; to round out the roster. While the team will be without ace right-hander Barry Bowden this summer, there’s still plenty of talent to hopefully make another run at a state title.

The tournament will begin July 5 in Alexandria.

&uot;That’s all we’re talking about in the dugout,&uot; Rhodes said. &uot;Everybody wants to win. We’ve got to put it together.&uot;

The 15-16 All-Stars, meanwhile, will go Saturday at the Tim McGraw Complex in Rayville for their shot at a district title. That team will also face Morehouse in the first round.

Eliser likes the pitching staff of that younger team &045; Jacob Bonnette, Matt Marchbanks, Hustin Eliser, Ples Arthur and Matt Shively.

&uot;All of those kids have really done an outstanding job this year,&uot; Eliser said. &uot;Four of them are hard throwers, and the other one (Shively) is a location pitcher. All of them are swinging the bat real well right now.&uot;