The 2007 Columbus County Dixie Youth All-Stars are part of the North Carolina Dixie Youth (ages 11-12) Baseball Tournament field for the 28th time since 1971.

The District 2 champion Columbus County team will take on Bessemer City Saturday at 3 p.m., in the opening round of the 2007 N.C. Dixie Youth Tournament at Dunn.

The Columbus County Sports Network will present live webcasts of the Columbus County games during the state tournament. Saturday’s coverage will begin at 2:50 p.m. Log on to columbuscountybaseball.com and follow the links. Mark Council and Franklin Davis will provide the play-by-play.

The 16-team, twin-bracket tournament will run through next July 27 or 28. The winner will advanced to the 2007 Dixie Youth World Series that is scheduled for Aug. 6-11 at Madison Heights, Va.

The Columbus County All-Stars went undefeated last week’s District 2 Tournament at Evergreen to claim their third straight district title and ninth in the last 10 years.

The Columbus team, coached by Russell Tyler, John Conner and Teddy Tedder, will be battling for its first state DY championship since 2000.

Team members are Dillon Faulk, Hyland Tyler, Ben Conner, Justin Ward, Alex Britt, Josh Tedder, Zack Hardin, Marquese Antone, Luke Tedder, Tanner Daniels, Forrest Malpass and David Brisson.