Assistant State Director of Dixie Youth Baseball William Wade was impressed with what he saw on the diamond on Thursday night when the Troy Nationals and the Troy Americans squared off for the right to serve as host for the Dixie Youth O-Zone State Tournament on July 21-27.

Wade was impressed with what he saw from the two teams.

&#8220He told me that he was very, very impressed with everything,” Troy Parks and Recreation Department Director Dan Smith said. &#8220Mr. Wade stayed for both games and was really impressed with both teams and the way they played. We talked after the game and we both think that the Americans have a great chance to go to the district tournament in Enterprise and play their way back to Troy and represent the district in the state tournament.”

The Nationals earned the city's automatic bid into the state tournament after sweeping the Americans on Thursday night with a 10-0 win in game one and a 7-2 win in the finale of the twin bill.

He was also impressed with the diamond itself.

&#8220He loved the back field at Franklin,” Smith said.

&#8220He said he thought it was a great place to play, but obviously because of the parking situation there we can't host a major tournament there. We went out to the Sportsplex and looked around and he was very impressed with the facility and the preparation we have completed so far. He just raved about the facility and the city. He told me and the parents that (Dixie Youth Baseball) holds Troy in high regard when it comes to hosting tournaments.”

With the start of the tournament just 19 days away, Smith and the rest of the TPRD staff have been busy with preparations, which he says are nearing completion.

&#8220I'd say we have 85-90 percent of the preparations done,” Smith said.

&#8220We're getting very close. We still have some loose ends to tie up, but things have been going very smoothly and we're getting close to wrapping everything up.

&#8220The tournament is just under three weeks away and we're all getting excited about getting it kicked off.”

One loose end that Smith and his staff are looking to tie up is securing volunteers for the tournament.

&#8220We still need some volunteers,” Smith said.

&#8220We'd really appreciate any adults who want to help out volunteering. We still need some people to keep scorebooks or serve as public address announcers and so forth. So, anyone who is interested can get in touch with us and we'll get them plugged in there even if they just want to volunteer for one of the six days.”

Anyone interested in volunteering can contact Smith or Troy Parks and Recreation Department Youth Sports Coordinator Vaughn Daniels at (334) 566-4031.