Selma’s hopes of winning the O-zone Dixie Youth Baseball state tournament ended abruptly Wednesday afternoon after back-to-back losses in Centreville.

The local all-star team, comprised off 11-and 12-year-olds, had won eight straight games entering Tuesday night’s semifinal against Troy and needed just two more wins to claim Selma’s first state championship at the O-zone level.

Instead, Troy dominated Selma 13-2 Tuesday to hand the local team its first loss of the double elimination tournament. The Decatur game Wednesday followed a similar script, as Selma lost 8-2 to be eliminated from the tournament.

“The game against Troy, they had excellent pitching. I have to take my hat off to Troy,” said Selma head coach Nathan Ellis. “Their pitcher kept us off guard, and we couldn’t get a chance to put anybody in scoring position. It was the same way with Decatur again today. Their pitcher kept us off base, and we weren’t being patient enough at the plate.”

Although the tournament didn’t end as the team had hoped, there were plenty of bright spots for Selma.

The team went deeper in the state tournament than any Selma O-zone team in history, according to Selma Recreation Director Jamie Tellier.

They also turned a triple play in Tuesday’s game against Troy and earned the tournament’s sportsmanship award, which is handed out at the end of the event.

“It says they are a class act,” Ellis said of the sportsmanship award. “They showed great poise, great character and whatever sportsmanship stands for. Those kids, they stood for it all.”

Last year, Selma’s O-zone team made it to the state tournament before losing it’s first two games and being eliminated right off the bat.

Ellis coached that team, which featured only two players from this year’s squad — his son Darrius Ellis and Osagie Aghedo.

This year’s group recovered from an early loss in the district round of the tournament to reel off eight consecutive wins and nearly punch a ticket to the World Series.

“I came in late. The all-star teams were pretty much picked when I took this job,” said Tellier, who has been the city’s baseball director for less than two months.

“I’m just coming in at the end so to see the growth from the subdistrict tournament to the state championship tournament. Our team has just grown so much. They’ve gotten better every day. This team is part of the reason I’m so excited about the future of Selma baseball. This 11-and 12-year-old squad as they keeping going up is really a key factor in getting Selma baseball back to where it needs to be.”

This year’s team featured only one 11-year-old, meaning the majority of the roster will move up to the 13-and 14-year-old age group. Ellis is hoping to keep the team together and continue coaching them.

The players on this year’s team were Ellis, Aghedo, Tyreshon Freeman, Demarckus Smiley, George Turner, Jack Barnes, Derrick Edwards Jr., Chris Gardner, Cade Whitaker, Matthew Hand, Chambers McGilberry and Tristine Marshall.

The coaches for the team were Ellis, Derrick Edwards and Willie Smiley.