‘O’ Zone championship begins today

ENTERPRISE — The official cookout and opening ceremonies were Friday night, but the fireworks really begin today when the Dixie ‘O’ Zone state tournament starts in Enterprise.

Twelve 12-man teams, including host Enterprise American, will play their double-elimination tournament for 11- and 12-year-olds on three fields. Enterprise coach Bret Dalrymple’s team didn’t go through the sub-district and district rounds, but he likes what he’s seen of his young team — which has eight 11-year-olds.

“Everybody wrote us off right away,” Dalrymple said. “With that many 11-year-olds nobody gave us a chance. We weren’t supposed to be here. But I can tell you I’ve got a team full of heart.“

Enterprise American won a best-of-three series against Enterprise National to win the host spot, showing determination that more experienced teams would envy.

“They beat us pretty good in the first game, 9-3,” Dalrymple said. “We came back and won later that night 8-7. Then came back the next night and won 8-7 again. We haven’t led yet. But these kids don’t quit.

“This is my seventh year coaching all-stars and this is the best I’ve seen a group come together as a team. I just told them I wouldn’t trade one of them for anybody else in the city. If I singled one out, I don’t know who it’d be. There are 12 guys and every one of them at any time can make a game-changing play.“

Enterprise National fell to Troy American in district play. Enterprise National beat Troy in the first game of the tournament. Troy won its way back through the losers’ bracket and beat Enterprise twice in a pair of one-run decisions.

“We beat a very good Enterprise team to get here,” Troy American coach Greg Avant said. “I’ve definitely got a good bunch. They’re scrappers. I felt we had a decent team, but they really surprised me. To come back like they did, I was very proud of my team.“

Avant said Troy showed good pitching depth in the district.

“We’re not overpowering,” he said. “We won’t dominate anybody. But our guys hit their spots and change speeds pretty well.“

O-Zone is in just its third year of Dixie Youth play. It utilizes an intermediate-sized field, bridging the gap between the traditional small field for boys to the standard field with 90-foot bases. The bases are 70 feet instead of 60 feet and the pitching rubber is 50 feet from home plate instead of 46.

Tournament director Billy Powell, director of the Enterprise Parks and Recreation Department, credited his staff and field crew for adapting the complex to accommodate the larger dimensions.

“We had to adapt two more fields for the tournament, and we couldn’t do that until our regular season was over,” Powell said. “It also involved making different cutouts on the grass, because 70-foot bases on those smaller fields would have been in the outfield. But the staff did a tremendous job. The fields are looking sharp. If you walk out there you wouldn’t know anything’s been done just a couple weeks ago.“

Most teams are staying in Enterprise hotels, although Powell said one team is staying in Ozark and another in Dothan.

“We had enough hotel rooms for the teams, but we didn’t have enough doubles,” Powell said.

Two other teams — Dothan National Blue and Troy American — will commute for their games.

In addition to the host team, there are 10 district champions and one district runner-up. Powell said Alabama’s District 10 doesn’t participate in O-Zone. So the District 7 runner-up, South Mobile County, completes the 12-team tournament. The winner will represent Alabama in the Dixie Youth O-Zone World Series in Pascagoula, Miss.