The Troy Junior Dixie Boys head to the state tournament this weekend in Dothan.

“We are excited and ready to get playing,” said head coach Eric Ernsberger. “It’s like going into district: there are a lot of practices, but we are ready.”

With a lot of wet weather the last two weeks, practice time on the field has been sparse.

“The last few days we have been limited to just hitting,” Ernsberger said. “We need to be able to get on the field to practice.”

The state tournament will consist of eight teams.

“We will face some good competition,” Ernsberger said. “There are four teams that are going to return that went to state last year.”

Troy will rely on six different pitchers in the tournament, and Ernsberger said Anthony Gurba, Javon Christian, John Baxley Sanders, Levi Sikes, Davis Allen, Brockston Bragg and Walker Stallworth can navigate the team through a tough bracket.

“We are really strong in pitching,” Ernsberger said. “We have at least six guys on the team that could start a game for us. We are good at pitching.”

Troy features a very balanced attack that hits for power and plays small ball.

The determining factor of how far Troy can go in this tournament may rest on how well the team focuses on the task at hand.

“We have to stay focused and in the game,” Ernsberger said. “In district we had that big inning that we gave up. We were out there an hour and our guys didn’t give up. We came back in the dugout and scored a few runs on the board. The main thing is we have to keep competing and battling.”

One strength Troy has is experience.

“I think it’s going to help, I think we have an edge in that aspect,” Ernsberger said. “We have been there and done it. It helps to have been on and played on that stage.”

Troy faces Jackson at 9 a.m. Saturday in Dothan.