While the state Dixie Youth Softball Tournament doesn’t get underway in Troy until this afternoon, plenty of Troy teams saw action Thursday night in other areas of the state.

The Troy Coach Pitch 6U, Coach Pitch 8U Rookie, AAA Rookie American, AAA Rookie National and Ozone Rookie all got their first games under their belts Thursday night to begin their respective state tournaments being held in Oxford and Enterprise.

AAA Rookie American

The District Champions came out with another big win to start the tournament in Oxford Thursday night, defeating Decatur 13-1 in four innings.

“We hit the ball and ran the bases well,” said head coach Tommy Jones. “We made the routine fundamental plays in the field.”

The American team found good success in the first inning, putting seven runs on the board before rain delayed the game for half an hour.

The team was able to come back out after the delay and finish the game in four innings by gaining a lead over 10 runs. “We’re very grateful and blessed,” Jones said.

The team will face Alexandria today at 2 p.m. Depending on whether they win or lose will determine what time their second game is today.

AAA Rookie National

The Troy team that finished second in that same district championship wasn’t able to come away with a favorable result Thursday night, falling 16-5, but head coach Rick Cochran said he reminded his team that they battled back in the district tournament after a loss as well.

“I told them this is how we felt after first district loss and we came back and played two good ball games after that,” Cochran said.

Despite the final score appearing lopsided, Cochran said his team was in the game until the end.

“We had a 4-1 lead and then they got ahead, but we still had a chance down 8-5 until the last inning,” Cochran said. “We just kind of ran out of pitching at that point.”

The team will face the loser of the Oxford and Dothan American today at noon.

6U Coach Pitch

The youngest group of Troy players were able to notch a big 20-7 victory in their first game of the tournament against Headland in Enterprise Thursday thanks in large part to strong batting.

“I was real pleased with the effort the team had tonight.,” said head coach Scott Ross. “We did not hit the ball real well at district tournament, so we’ve been working on that real hard at practice and it showed tonight.”

The team came out with seven runs in the first inning without a single out recorded.

Ross said his defense also made some big plays to cap Headland off from adding more scores, highlighting two especially big moments in the game.

“Headland had a few kids who could hit the ball pretty well and drove the ball all the way to the fence,” Ross said. “Our outfielders threw relays and we got one out at home and one at third base. I’m proud of our outfielders and infield throws. Those were really big in taking some momentum away from Headland.”

They will continue play tonight against Luverne at 6:30.

Head coaches Troy Jinright of the 8U Rookie team and Wally Lowery of the Ozone Rookie team could not be reached for comment before publishing time.