This past weekend, Scotland County and the city of Laurinburg played host to the opening of the 2018 Dixie Youth Softball state tournaments.

A number of Stanly teams began play in those double-elimination tournaments in several divisions.

SweeTees (5-6 years old)

The youngest division, the SweeTees, play using a tee, hence the name of the division being capitalized.

West Stanly’s team had a bye in the first round of the five-team tournament and did not play until Sunday’s semifinals.

The first opponent for West Stanly was Central Columbus, who won 28-14 over West Lincoln in the first round.

In Sunday’s semifinals, Central Columbus advanced to the championship finals with a 33-10 win over West Stanly. Central takes on Duplin County, who won 29-17 over East Columbus on Saturday to reach the finals.

On Monday, West Stanly was eliminated from the tournament with a 29-22 loss to East Columbus.

Darlings (7-8)

Two Stanly teams qualified for the state tournament in the next older age bracket which is a coach-pitch level: North Stanly and West Stanly.

On Saturday, West Stanly opened with the first game of the Darlings tournament where the locals won 9-4 over Central Columbus.

West then faced Lumberton, who had a bye in the first round of the 11-team tournament. West Stanly won that game 16-11 to move on to the semifinals.

On Monday, West Stanly suffered the team’s first loss, losing to Duplin County, 11-5. West Stanly will take on Central Columbus Tuesday.

North lost its first round game to Dunn 15-4 on Saturday and faced East Rowan in the losers brackets. East Rowan lost 10-9 to East Columbus. North Stanly bounced back from its first-round defeat to beat East Rowan, 12-11.

North Stanly was eliminated from the tournament on Monday afternoon with an 8-4 loss to Central Columbus.

Dixie Angels X-Play (9-10)

South Stanly was the lone representative from the county in the Angels X-Play division’s eight-team tournament.

South opened the tourney with a 1-0 loss Saturday to Central Columbus, but stayed alive in the tournament with a 7-4 win over Richlands.

Early Monday morning, South Stanly was knocked out of the tournament with a 14-0 loss to Mount Olive.

Debs (16 and up)

Finally, in the oldest division, West Stanly opened play Saturday in a four-team tournament with a 15-1 win over White Oak.

In the next round on Sunday, West Stanly suffered a 10-0 loss to West Chatham, who had beaten Brunswick County North 8-2 on Saturday.

West Stanly lost on Monday afternoon to Brunswick County North 10-8, ending the team’s run in the losers bracket.