VIDALIA — The Concordia Dixie Youth 9- and 10-year-olds All-Stars have been patiently waiting for the chance to play in the regional tournament.
Now, the 9s and 10s will finally hit the diamond at the Concordia Parish Recreation District 3 complex in hopes of advancing to the state tournament.
Up first for Concordia is Bossier, and game time is set for 5:30 p.m. Head coach Shaun McDonald said he’s ready to see his boys take the field.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” McDonald said. “They’ve been working hard for four weeks, and I think we’ll do pretty well.”
With Concordia hosting regionals, the 9s and 10s were catapulted directly into that round without having to play sub-district and district. McDonald said practice games were the only way to remain in playing shape when they otherwise would have been playing, and he’s hoping the time was put to good use.
“We’ll be playing some of the better teams in the state,” McDonald said.
With the games being right in his players’ back yards, McDonald said having home field advantage is a big plus for his boys.
“To play on a field that nice and be able to sleep in their own beds, that’s a huge advantage for us, I think,” McDonald said.
Concordia 11s and 12s
Concordia Dixie Youth All-Stars 11- and 12-year-old head coach Rusty Smith said he feels like his team has a good chance to do well as they head into tonight’s game.

The 11s and 12s will play Ville Platte at 7 p.m., and Smith said his players are eager to take to the field after such a long layoff, since his team was catapulted straight to regionals.
“It’s tough just competing against yourselves in practice,” Smith said. “We’re ready for the competition, no doubt about that.”
Being able to host regional has both its advantages and drawbacks, Smith said.
“The advantage is that you don’t have to travel, and that’s a great advantage,” Smith said. “The disadvantage is that you don’t get to see any other competition (before you play).”
But even with the lack of games, Smith said he’s confident his team will perform well.
“Eleven out of the 12 that are playing came back from last year’s team,” Smith said. “We have six good pitchers, which really helps in tournaments. If the hitting comes around, we’ll be OK.”
Concordia 14s
The Concordia 14-year-old All-Stars are headed into this weekend’s state tournament in Sulpher, La., with the possibility of seeing some familiar faces.
After playing Gonzalez for this first game at 9 a.m. Saturday, the 14s will face one of Franklin Parish or East Ouachita, both of which Concordia played in the district tournament.
“We beat both of them, but that doesn’t mean anything now,” head coach James Thomas said.
And Thomas also said he’s anticipating a tough opener against Gonzalez.
“I think if we can get past Gonzalez, we have a good shot of making it to the finals,” Thomas said.
The tournament is made up of two divisions, and the teams will play through Tuesday before the top two square off Wednesday and Thursday. The winner of that round will then go to the Dixie World Series in South Carolina.