Selma was eliminated from the Dixie Majors State Baseball Tournament Saturday after an 11-4 loss to Southeastern.

On a humid day at Bloch Park, Southeastern kept making solid contact at the plate and consistently drove in runs. Southeastern’s starting pitcher Tatum Dean threw 109 pitches, threw six innings, and quieted Selma’s bats at the plate.

“We didn’t make the routine plays. Routine plays killed us,” Selma head coach Johnny Raybon said. “We made some good plays, but it was like our concentration wasn’t there the whole time. We just came up short.”

In the second inning, Southeastern took an early 1-0 lead when Will Holland scored on a fielding error. Unfortunately for Selma, it was a lead that would never be relinquished.

In the third, Southeastern’s Frank Moody doubled to bring in Will Hayes and Holland to make the score 3-0. Selma finally broke through in the fourth inning when Trevor Bates doubled to bring Matt McKinney home, making the score 3-1.

Southeastern was able to extend its lead with a big fifth inning. By the time Chapmen Dean was walked in with the bases loaded, the score was 7-1 Southeastern.

Selma showed signs of life in the fifth inning too. McKinney doubled to left field to bring home a run. Eddie Thigpen seemingly mimicked McKinney in his at-bat, hitting a line drive in the same spot down the left field line to score McKinney. For the final out of the inning, Justin Chandler scored later in the inning to keep Selma within striking distance at 7-4.

With Selma gaining momentum, Southeastern put the game away in the top of the sixth. Dean Radopolous scored on a passed ball and Moody added another run on a sacrifice fly by Holland. In the top of the seventh, Southeastern added two more insurance runs to make the score 11-4.

“I told them don’t give up on baseball,” Raybon said when asked what he told his team after the game. “They are all good baseball players. Keep their heads up. They just came up short. That’s baseball.”

Fatigue arguably could have been an issue for Selma. Friday afternoon the team played an eleven inning game against Opp and lost, meaning they had to play Saturday morning at 9 a.m.

The Dixie Majors State Baseball Tournament will continue until Monday or Tuesday, with Tuesday’s game being an if necessary game.