“It feels pretty good to get the season started off. I wanted to see what we had,” Solomon said. “I’ve got a lot of young players—a lot of eighth, ninth and tenth graders. We’re going to be a very strong team in the next few years. Right now we’re working and we’re looking pretty good for the first few games. We’re going to work and hopefully win the area this year.”

The final game of the day put the Saints’ varsity against the Hornets’ varsity, as Dallas County won 6-3 in five innings.

The Saints took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth, but a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the fourth gave the Hornets their first run and sparked a six-run inning that proved to be the difference.

Saints’ head baseball coach Reggie Glover said he was impressed with his team, and hopes what Selma learned will prove useful in the future.

“I’m impressed, for it to be a season opener. I think after playing today we got out of it what we needed,” Glover said. “Of course, we wanted to win, but I think we were able to see some game-time situations, some game speed, and I think that was really the objective for today.”

Glover said the Jai Miller Classic is good because it brings old friends together and creates good competition.

“I think it’s good for the city, because you’ve got inner city (teams) and the kids have been playing together since little league baseball,” Glover said. “So I think it’s good for them to get a chance to come back and play against old friends and it’s a little added competition. All three teams came out and played hard.”

Moore said the classic is something the Hornets are always glad to participate in.

“I think it’s good for the community, good for all schools involved,” Moore said. “We’re fortunate to be able to participate and we’re glad to be here.”

Solomon said the classic is well organized, and he hopes more teams will be involved in future classics.

“They’re doing a good job with this (the classic) and hope it goes on and on,” Solomon said. “I hope we can get more teams, too.”