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The Valley 10U AAA Allstars, also known as Team Alabama, made their debut at the Diamond Youth Baseball World Series on Thursday morning. 

However, the team fell to their opponent, Team Georgia, from Schley County, 10-3. The first game of the tournament is “pool play,” meaning their journey is not over. The boys will now play Team Tennessee tomorrow at 11 a.m.  

Valley’s starter Benton Earl had a solid day pitching 2 ⅓ innings with three hits. However, a walk for the first batter followed by a single and an inside-the-park home run got Schley County an early 3-0 lead. 

The Allstars were able to shut down Team Georgia for two innings. However, in the fourth Schley tacked on three more runs with a single, another inside-the-park home run and an error. In the fifth, with two outs, the Georgia team singles with a man on second to make it 7-0 and walks another in for another run. 

With some rain in Bossier, came some light for the Valley team. In the bottom of the fifth, Valley played small ball allowing for Noah Lynd to score on a bases-loaded walk from Baylor Anglin. 

However, Schley seemingly halted the momentum, scoring another two runs on two outs in the top of the sixth. In the last half inning Valley would not be able to come all the way back. 

But, Team Alabama didn’t go down without a fight. Earl doubled as the first batter. A single by Cole Carswell and an error by Schley’s shortstop get Benton home and Carswell to second. Speedster Carwell was moved over by a sacrifice fly from Mason Landrum. Finally, Ingram S brought Cole to the dish with a groundout, for a final score of 10-3.

The team’s Facebook page, 2024 Valley 10U All-Stars, is livestreaming the games. If they lose tomorrow the team will be sent to a separate bracket and will have a harder trek to the championship. However, with a win, tomorrow would get Valley a bye to the next round.