The 17U Selma all-star baseball team went to Ozark this past weekend and finished as the state runner-ups in the Dixie Youth Baseball state tournament.

The team won the tournament opener against East Montgomery 14-0 this past Thursday. The following Friday morning, the boys lost 4-3 to the 17U Dixie Youth Baseball World Series defending champs and state tournament host Ozark.

Selma and Ozark were tied at 4 in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Ozark executed a suicide squeeze play with two strikes to take the lead 5-4.

The Selma 17U all-stars was mostly made up from the same team that won the 15U Dixie Youth Baseball World Series last summer. This was the teams’ first season competing in the 17U division, and head coach Ricky Waters believed the boys just needed a little more preparation to be ready for the state tournament.

“I don’t think we were totally prepared,” he said. “We weren’t all in it like we needed to be to play at that level, but the kids did a great job.”

The loss to Ozark placed Selma in the loser’s bracket since it was a double-elimination tournament.

Selma survived with an 8-4 win over Butler that Friday afternoon to advance to the championship game. A re-match with Ozark for the state title.

Ozark defeated Selma again 6-3 for the championship game.

“It played out in our favor with the innings left for our pitchers, but we just couldn’t score the runs,” Waters said.

The Selma team was recognized with the sportsmanship award for the tournament in addition to their second-place finish.

“We were very competitive, and our boys played good,” Waters said. “They looked good, but we just came up short a couple of times. It was heart-breaking for me and for the kids.”