Staff photo by Mark Gilchrist

Majors excitement

Exuberant members of the Columbus County Dixie Majors All-Stars celebrate at homeplate while awaiting the arrival of teammate DeMichael Smith after his two-run homer in the sixth inning had tied Saturday’s state championship series with game with Stanly County at 4-4. Columbus County went to win 9-4 in eight innings to sweep the best-of-three North Carolina Dixie Majors Baseball (ages 15-19) championship series at Legion Stadium. The North Carolina champions will open play Saturday in the 2007 Dixie Majors World Series at Florence, S.C. They will go against Goochland, Va., at 5:30 p.m., in the opening round of the 12-team double-elimination World Series tournament at Florence’s Legion Stadium. The team is coached by T.J. Spivey and Joey Autry.