It has been a few years since Bill Johnson of Evergreen and Mike Mobley of Hallsboro have been part of a Dixie Youth All-Star coaching staff, but both are back at it this season.

Johnson and Mobley both “retired” from youth baseball coaching earlier this decade after each had put in four decades of success. Together, they coached 14 state champions, one World Series champion (1993) and three World Series runnerup finishes (1984, 1987, 2000) at the 11 and 12-year-old level.

Now they join Shane Barnhill of Evergreen in coaching the Columbus County AAA (ages 10-under) All-Stars, who won the recent District 2 Tournament at Bladenboro. The Columbus team went undefeated in the eight-team tournament to claim its third straight District 2 championship.

The Columbus County team, consisting of players from Evergreen, Hallsboro, Lake Waccamaw and Cerro Gordo, will travel to Clinton Saturday to open play in the 16-team North Carolina AAA Tournament. Their opening game will be Saturday at noon against Troy.

The double-elimination tournament will run through next Friday or Saturday, with the winner receiving a berth in the 2006 Dixie Youth AAA World Series that will be held Aug. 14-19 at Goodlettsville, Tenn.

This will be the first time that Clinton has played host to a North Carolina Dixie Youth Baseball tournament event.