After seeing Jemison and Thorsby teams represent the county well, a team from Clanton is eager to do the same.

Clanton’s O-Zone all-stars leave Thursday for the Dixie Youth Baseball World Series in Lexington, S.C.—giving Chilton County three World Series teams this summer.

“They’re very excited about the trip,” Coach Jeff Price said. “Seeing Jemison and Thorsby represent the county so well has made our boys want to go do the same thing.”

Jemison (12-year-olds) and Thorsby (14) competed in Dizzy Dean World Series tournaments last weekend and this week.

Clanton’s first World Series game will come at 3 p.m. Saturday against Paris National, the Texas state runner-up.

If the game is close late, the Clanton players will believe they can pull it out—because they’ve made a habit of doing just that.

One of the team’s themes has been to play hard at all times because you never know when the play is going to happen that will determine the outcome of the game. Another theme has been the importance of playing well in case a teammate has a bad game and needs help.

“Just about everybody on the team at one point or another…somebody has always made that play for us,” Price said.

Many of the Clanton all-stars competed in a national travel tournament in Florida last summer, but Price said the possibility of the World Series stage affecting the players is a concern.

“Sometimes with 12-year-old boys, though, that’s what you need, the adrenaline to get them focused.”