It’s off to the land of the unknown for three Selma Dixie Baseball teams, as their respective state and sub-state tournaments begin next Friday night.

As the three teams travel to their tournaments, all three – like many of their opponents – will know little, if any, about the teams and challenges they must overcome to be called champions.

The Selma 13-year-old Dixie Boys won their District 4 tournament Thursday night with a 10-6 win over North Clark in the title game. Selma also completed a waterlogged 4-0 win over Demopolis in a game that had been halted by rain the two previous days.

Meanwhile, the Selma 14-year-old Dixie Boys pulled off a pair of miraculous rallies on Thursday to win their district title. In the early game, Selma rallied from a 5-run deficit to beat Prattville, 10-7. The most dramatic comeback, however, was saved for last. In the title game against Demopolis, the Selma All-Stars fell behind 11-0 before charging back for an exciting 12-11 victory. Although he did not start a game on the mound for Selma all season, Teravious Mitchell pitched a lengthy 4 1/3 scoreless innings of relief for the victory.

On Wednesday, the Selma 15-16-year-old Pre-Majors All-Stars clinched their spot in the state tournament with a 6-2 win over Chilton County at Wetumpka. Cody Massey helped the Selma All-Stars reach the state tourney with a six-hit performance. Massey allowed two runs in the first inning, then held Chilton County off the board for the remainder of the game.

The Selma 13-year-old All-Stars will head to the nine-team, double-elimination state tournament to be held in Troy at the city’s Sportsplex.

Despite their winning the District 4 tourney, the pairings for the upcoming state tournament are less than kind to the Selma All-Stars. Head coach Bruce Fuller said if his team wins its opening game Friday night, then Selma must compete in six games in order to garner the state title. An opening-night loss would mean that Selma would need just a total of five games to win the tournament.

Meanwhile, North Clark – the team Selma beat for the district crown – has received a first-round bye and must survive just five games to be the state champion.

“Playing six games is going to be tough,” Fuller said. “We’re not six-deep in pitching. We have to find another kid who can throw.”

Pitching is especially magnified in tournaments, where a pitcher is allowed just 14 innings on the mound. Fuller hinted that he might throw his number-five pitcher Friday, saving his ace for Saturday’s game against North Clark.

“If we win (Friday night), that’s a plus,” he said. “If we lose, then we’ll only have to play four more games. We need to look at our other pitchers and see what they can do down the road.”

Pitching also will play a major role for the Selma 14-year-old All-Stars as they travel to Clanton for their sub-state tournament. Head coach Mark Rouleau gave his squad the weekend off to rejuvenate.

“We’re going to need pitching, pitching and more pitching,” Rouleau said. “With several games and double-headers, pitching becomes very important. All aspects of the game are important at this level, but pitching is very important.”

In order to win the state title, Rouleau’s squad will likely have to face Opelika, last year’s state and World Series champs.

“We played them close last year,” he said. “We’ve got 11 guys back, so we have 11 guys with that kind of experience. They know what to expect.”

As he glances down the road his team must travel to win the Pre-Majors state title, 15-16-year-olds Selma All-Stars head coach Robert Massey said defense would need to a big part of his team’s success. Selma opens its run at the state crown Friday night in Thomasville.

“If we do what we’re supposed to do,” Massey said, “we have as good a chance as anyone to win. What we do best is play defense. Our pitchers don’t throw very hard and teams are going to hit what we throw. We have to play good defense.”

Selma’s road will be made even more difficult in the fact that they will be up against perennial favorite Auburn University-Montgomery, which went to the Dixie Pre-Majors World Series last season.

As for his pitching rotation, Massey wouldn’t say who he would start Friday. He did say that it would either be Andrew Harrison, Zach Hughey, or Cody Massey.