NATCHEZ &045; With many members of its team back from last year’s district and state championship team, the Natchez Dixie Boys 14-year-old All-Stars are looking to win both titles again this year.

First, the Natchez 14s begin defense of their district title when they host the District 4 Tournament, which begins today at the Dixie Boys field on Covington Road.

Head coach William Barnes said he found out that Natchez would be hosting the district tournament about a month ago.

As to the players’ reactions, Barnes said, &uot;It was mixed emotions.&uot;

Mixed emotions about the defending state champs hosting a district tournament?

&uot;Some of them like to travel. Some of them want to stay at home,&uot; Barnes said. &uot;We’ve always done well when we travel. With all the rain we’ve had, they’re ready to play ball.&uot;

The bad weather over the last few weeks has had a big impact on the Natchez 14s getting in much practice.

&uot;We’ve been limited on practice games, the whole works,&uot; Barnes said. &uot;We’ve been fortunate enough that (Adams Christian) has let us use their cages and its covered batting cage.&uot;

Barnes noted that his team usually gets in a couple of practice games, but that has not been the case this year.

However, Barnes did say that the practices his team have got in have gone very well.

&uot;Everybody’s there,&uot; Barnes said. &uot;Our practices have been very organized. We get everybody busy hitting, pitching, throwing.&uot;

Weather permitting, all games will start at 7 p.m. Today’s game will pit Brookhaven against Summit.

Natchez doesn’t play until Friday at 7 p.m. against Summit.

And having a bye helps Barnes, assistant coaches Brad Fondren and Glenn Carroll, and the players know what they’ll be up against Friday against Summit and Saturday against Brookhaven.

&uot;It gives us an opportunity to scout and see the teams because they’re not local teams,&uot; Barnes said. &uot;I think it’s huge because when we drew Monday night, wer were fortunate to get the bye. We can find out what their weaknesses are and how well they hit the ball.&uot;

Barnes said he is expecting his team’s overall pitching to be better than last year, when it had an earned run average of between two and three.

&uot;We’ve got some different styles of pitching,&uot; Barnes said.

Barnes also said he expects there to be good crowds for all of the games.

&uot;I hope people come out and watch good baseball,&uot; Barnes said. &uot;It will be crowded. Brookhaven and Summit have good crowds. We got a lot of support from Natchez last year from district through state and the World Series, so hopefully we’ll get a lot of support this year.&uot;

As for what he knows about the two teams, Barnes said, &uot;They’re the same teams we basically played last year. They both picked up a couple of good pitchers from select teams they didn’t have last year. They’re a lot better than they were a year ago. We’ll be tested.&uot;

Barnes also noted that while both Brookhaven and Summit hit the ball well last year, hitting is the one area his team has improved on from last year and that he fells good out his team’s defense.

While Natchez doesn’t have the same team it had last year, they still have Duncan Guedon, Matt Barnes, Luke Brumfield, Dustin Carroll, Brian Sanderson, Ross Smith, Jesse Morrison, Joseph McDonough, Braxton Fondren, Blaine Abernathy and Ja-mes Logan returning from last year’s state title team.

As for how much pressure is on this year’s group of 14-year-olds to win district at home after what last year’s team did, Barnes said his team is not looking at it that way.

&uot;We don’t have a completely different team, but we have a different team,&uot; Barnes said. &uot;We have the core players back. It’s a little bit of pressure. We take it one game at a time.&uot;

The Natchez Dixie Boys 13-year-old All-Stars, led by head coach Duke Edwards, begin play today in the District 4 Tournament at Brookhaven against Summit at 7 p.m. All games in that tournament will begin at 7 p.m.