Shelby County saw four of its teams advance to a state tournament in Dizzy Dean Baseball this summer, including the perineal presence of the Shelby County 14-year-old all-star team.

This weekend, head coach Matt Dill leads his 14-year-old team to Jasper for the state tournament along with Montevallo head coach Shane Baugh.

&8220;I think we&8217;ll be competitive, but then again, I&8217;ve been known to be wrong,&8221; said Dill. &8220;Really and truly, we&8217;ll live and die by our pitching.&8221;

Shelby County, who defeated Montevallo 10-6 last Tuesday in Columbia for the district title, advances to state for the fourth-consecutive season and will meet Northport in the first round Friday. Montevallo plays Springville.

Shelby County&8217;s Dizzy Dean league merged with Calera&8217;s league this season to help provide enough players to form an all-star team for both ages 13 and 14.

&8220;It gives more kids a bigger chance to get to go to a World Series game. Instead of nine kids going this gives them a shot at 18,&8221; said Calera league president J.R. Jones.

Jones led his Shelby County 13-year-old team to its state tournament this past weekend in Northport, falling Monday night 11-0 to the host team. It opened play Friday down 12-2 to Dora, but rallied to cut the game close in a 16-14 loss. After a rain out on Saturday, Shelby County bounced back with a win over Walker County with the help of pitcher Chase Jones, who struck out 19 batters in the tournament through nine innings of work.

The 13-year olds travel to Southaven, Miss., for the World Series, July 27 to Aug. 2. It will be the first time that anyone from Calera&8217;s program has gone to a World Series.

&8220;I&8217;m pretty psyched about it. I can&8217;t wait until we get there and start playing,&8221; said Chase Jones.

Vincent takes its juniors team to the state tournament in Good Hope this weekend