Two Vicksburg All-Star teams are in Meridian today for the start of the Babe Ruth 13- and 14-year-olds’ state tournaments at Q.V. Sykes Baseball Park.

While Sykes Park is a new site for veteran all-star coach and former Vicksburg Baseball Association President Darrell Evans, having to play Meridian is not.

&#8220It seems like every year since these kids were 10, with the exception of a couple of tournaments in USSSA, we’ve met Meridian in the state finals,” said Evans of his current group of 14-year-old All-Stars.

The Hurricanes already have one state title under their belt after winning the USSSA 14s title in Brandon two weeks ago.

&#8220We won in it in three games. Even though it wasn’t a lot of teams, they were tough teams and we won the championship game in the bottom of the eighth,” Evans said.

The Hurricanes roster features a handful of starters in the St. Aloysius baseball program, along with five more from Warren Central and three from Vicksburg High.

&#8220It’s been a challenge this season because most of these kids were playing with their high school teams for a 30-game summer schedule. We just tried to play around it but we did have one situation where the WC kids were playing in a tournament in Clinton and then came over to us later that day,” Evans said.

The Vicksburg 13-year-olds’ All-Stars, called the Colonels, were scheduled to open play today at 1 p.m. against East Central. Other teams in the field include Pascagoula, Corinth, McComb, Long Beach, Meridian and Orange Grove.