One Vicksburg baseball team takes its shot at the big time this week, while another will try to make it there.

The Vicksburg Red Sox and Vicksburg Venom, a pair of tournament teams, will both play in major tournaments this week.

The Red Sox head to Pace, Fla., for the USSSA 11-and-under World Series beginning today against the Pelicans from Chalmette, La. The Red Sox will play the Louisiana Cardinals, from Denham Springs, Tuesday at 8 a.m. Of the 22 teams in the tournament, the Red Sox are the only one from Mississippi.

“I think we’ve got a chance to go down there and win it. The competition level is going to be about like state,” Red Sox coach Bo Magoun said. “I looked at all 22 teams online, and their rankings and what they’ve done, and everybody’s beatable. Including us.”

Helping the Red Sox’s chances is a beefed-up pitching rotation. Magoun recruited three new pitchers – Stewart Eaton of Brandon, Austin Dillon of Madison, and Patrick Murphy from Vicksburg – in anticipation of a five- or six-game stay at the World Series.

USSSA rules allow teams to add up to three players to their rosters before the World Series.

“We got a couple of new pitchers, so that’s going to help us. We didn’t have that during the state tournament,” Magoun said. “We picked them up mainly for their pitching. They probably won’t play any other position.”

The Venom open play in the Cal Ripken 10-year-olds’ Southwest Regional in Monticello, Ark., on Thursday. It’s the second straight trip to a Ripken regional for the Venom, who won both the USSSA and Cal Ripken state championships as 9-year-olds.

The Venom advanced to this year’s regional with an impressive run through the Cal Ripken state tournament last week in Brandon. They went 4-0, outscored opponents 47-10, and were barely challenged. If the Venom win the regional this week, they’ll earn a berth to the 10-year-olds’ Cal Ripken World Series starting Aug. 8 in Abbeville, La.

“We spread our schedule out so we can be sharp at this time of year. We don’t play tournaments every weekend. We want our kids fresh for the state tournament and regional,” Venom coach Todd Boolos said.