Texarkana South faced a tougher test than expected Saturday in the Dixie Ozone Division I North Region-State Tournament at the Swanger Complex in Spring Lake Park.
The South All-Stars won their tournament opener on Dave Hall Field over Bonham, 10-7.
In other action Atlanta flexed its muscles in blanking Van Alstyne, 14-0; Spring Hill slipped past Mount Pleasant, 9-7; and Longview run-ruled Paris National, 11-1.
New Boston defeated Howe, 17-6, in Division II play on Jimmy Carroll Field saw White Oak rolled over Daingerfield, 14-1; Red River County nipped Bells, 10-9; and Sabine was tied with Whitewright in a late game, 4-4.
Hunter Digby, Reece Bruner and Allen Cartwright combined for the pitching win for the South stars. Texarkana's leading hitters were Bruner with a double and single, Bret Spivey with a triple and Banks Wilson with a double.
Texarkana coach Russell Collins wasn't surprised his victory didn't come easy.
"I expected a close game tonight," he said. "We hadn't played in nearly a month. Usually we play some scrimmage games, but we didn't this summer. Everybody was a little nervous to start, but once we settled in we played good ball."
Collins expects his squad to challenge for the championship and advance to the World Series in Alabama.
"This team is so talented it took me two hours to settle on a lineup," Collins said. "All twelve players on our roster can pitch if we need them. We've got seven players from our regular season team, so we know what they're capable of doing."
The teams that eventually prevail in this event will need a lot of pitchers because of new pitch-limit rules in Dixie ball this season.
If any pitcher exceeds 40 pitches in a game, he's ineligible to pitch again for 36 hours. A pitcher throwing more than 65 pitches can't return to the rubber for 48 hours, and the tournament is scheduled to end Monday.
"We've played all year with the new pitching rule, and we've learned to adjust," Collins said. "This team's strength has been hitting. We hit the ball today, but we're capable of hitting so much better. We didn't run the bases today like we usually do. You could see us steal home a couple of times before this tournament is over."
Atlanta put on a hitting show in its lopsided win. Dex Ebard had two doubles and a single; Nick Burdon three singles; Austin Fahrney three singles; and Julian Rea a double and single.
The first two elimination games were played late Saturday. In Division I, Van Alstyne played Mount Pleasant, and Paris National faced Bonham.
In Division II, Daingerfield played Bells, and Howe faced the loser of the Sabine-Whitewright game.
Texarkana South will be back in action today at 10 a.m. against Longview. Atlanta faces Spring Hill at noon. The winners of those two games play again at 6:30 p.m., while the losers play at 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.