By Robert Hudson

The Selma Times-Journal

The Selma 17-18-19 year-old All-Stars won their first Dixie Majors state tournament game in dominating fashion as they earned an 11-0 shutout victory over Oxford at Bloch Park last night.

The win puts Selma in the winner’s bracket of the double-elimination tournament as they’ll face Auburn tonight at 5:30 at Bloch Park.

“Hudson McGraw pitched a heck of a game,” said Selma coach Robert Massey. “He battled through it. First three innings he left five runners out there. Fourth and fifth innings he pitched very well and just battled.”

Selma scored first as Justin Moreland brought in a run with an RBI double.

Selma would score four more in the inning.

Massey said his hitters really came through when it mattered most.

“We had timely hitting,” said Massey. “Daniel Blackman was 3 for 3. Taylor Copeland went 3 for 3 and had some huge hits and Johnny Watts played well.”

“Everybody played well,” Massey added. “We were able to play all 13 players tonight.”

Massey said the defense was also key in Selma’s victory, particularly the play of catcher Ricky Croker.

“We didn’t make an error, which kind of surprised me to be honest,” Massey said. “During our practices we haven’t looked real good at times. I was a little concerned with how we’d play having not played in three weeks. It’s a big win for us.”

Oxford will face elimination today as they face Thomasville at 3 p.m. in the loser’s bracket and will look to produce more offense to try and stay alive.

“We’re getting runs in scoring position, but we’ve got to get the runs in,” said Oxford coach Gary Mason. “We left about six or seven runs on the bases and we weren’t doing what we need to do.”

Massey said Selma will now turn its attention to a tough test against defending World Series champ Auburn.

“We got our work cut out for us, but we look forward to playing them,” said Massey. “You’ve got to beat the best to be the best.”