By Brian Anderson

Finding strength within themselves and believing in God are just a couple of ways the Troy Farm League Americans plan to win in its first district game. The six and seven-year-olds are being taught by their coaches that they have to work for everything they want and it is not given to them.

“We want them to be as good as they can be and win it all we wouldn’t hope for nothing less,” head coach Chris Campbell said. His team participated in a warm-up tournament in Eufaula and showed they could compete even against 8-year-olds he said.

The biggest element Campbell and his coaching staff are stressing is fundamentals. He wants them know that baseball is about repetition.

“Stopping ground balls, throwing, catching, hitting and hitting some more day in day out all come with repetition,” he said. “The more you put in the better your results will be.”

The team always ends practice with a small devotion. Campbell and assistant coach Brian Mclendon like to motivate their all-stars through Bible stories.

“Coach Mclendon gave the kids a great message last week about David and Goliath and how David physically had everything stacked against him but he believed in his abilities and faith in God he could do all things and he succeeded,” Campbell said.

Mclendon hopes his team learns to play team baseball and learn more about the game in last two and a half weeks than when they first began practicing.

“We are going to teach them fundamentals and how to play the game right,” he said. They have came a long way in the past couple weeks of practice and he wants them to continue to get better each practice.

He is a firm believer in always putting faith first on the baseball field.

“There is no skill on the field we won’t use whether it be attitude or fundamentals that we can’t find a story in the Bible to relate to pump them up with,” he said.

The Americans will begin Distract play Friday in Zion Chapel. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.