By DAN BISER

OLD DOCK – With four runs in the first inning and three in the second inning, the Columbus County All-Stars bounced back from a 7-0 shutout loss on Wednesday to take a 9-5 victory over Whiteville Optimist and claim the District 2 Dixie Youth (ages 11-12) Baseball Tournament championship at Thurman Ward Memorial Field.

With an eight-hit attack and a strong relief pitching performance by Ryan Sykes, Columbus County grabbed its 25th District 2 Tournament title since 1971. The game also marked the 18th time that Columbus County and Whiteville Optimist had faced off in the district finals. The game was played on Friday after heavy rain had forced postponement on Thursday.

Columbus County, which has won eight of the nine District 2 championships, will advance to the 2006 North Carolina Dixie Youth Baseball Tournament, which will run July 28-Aug. 4 at Red Springs. The Columbus squad of coaches Kevin Wayne, Jody Sykes and Jesse Register will take on East Duplin in Saturday’s opening round of play at 4 p.m.

The winner of the 16-team, double-elimination World Series will receive a berth in the 2006 Dixie Youth World Series, which will open on Aug. 13 at Goodlettsville, Tenn.

Whiteville took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Hunter Smith walked and scored following back-top-back hits by Justin White and Lance Caffee.

Derrick Bracey, Sykes, Forrest Wayne and Dillon Faulk’s had first-inning hits when Columbus County jumped to a 4-0 lead. Chase Nye, Allen Mitchell and Aaron Graves rapped out hits in Columbus County’s three-run second inning.

Whiteville Optimist, which won the 2005 District 2 championship, battled back for four runs in the top of the third inning when it drew five walks and got a double by Frank Ciamillo. But Sykes came on to pitch in the third and held the Whiteville order scoreless over the final three innings.

Columbus County picked up a run in the fourth when Nye got his second straight hit and later scored on an error. Hyland Tyler scored the game’s final run in the fifth inning after he drove a single.

Hunter Smith also doubled for Whiteville in the fourth inning.

Columbus County had opened the tournament with a 5-1 win over host Nakina and then defeated Bladen County 4-3 in seven innings. It fell to Whiteville 7-0 in Wednesday’s championship round opener before coming back on Friday to claim the title.

Whiteville Optimist, coached by Stephen Smith, Dean Turner and Anthony Butner, had fallen to Bladen County 4-3 in its tournament opener but came back to take wins of 21-6 over Nakina, 11-5 over Bladen County and 7-0 over Columbus County before falling in the final.

Along with its runnerup finish, Whiteville Optimist was also announced as winner of the tournament’s Sportsmanship Trophy.