The Whiteville Optimist All-Stars will go against the Oxford All-Stars Saturday at 4 p.m., in the opening round of the 2007 North Carolina AAA (ages 10-under) Baseball Tournament in Eden.

The 16-team tournament will consist of two double-elimination brackets. The champion of each bracket will meet in a best-of-three series for the state championship and a berth in the 2007 Dixie Youth AAA Baseball World Series that will be held Aug. 6-11 at Madison Heights, Va.

The Whiteville team won five straight games to win last week’s District 2 AAA Tournament at Riegelwood.

The Whiteville Optimist All-State team, coached by Dale Reaves, Willie Wilkins and Adam Best, is back in the state AAA tournament for the first time since 2003.
Whiteville Optimist last won the state AAA tournament in 1997 when the event was held at Troy.

A win in Saturday’s game will put Whiteville in Sunday’s 8 p.m., game with Saturday’s South Park-Reidsville winner. A loss on Saturday will put Whiteville in a 2 p.m., game on Sunday against the South Park-Reidsville loser.