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JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

Reese Williamson practices his pitching. "Reese Williamson is an all-around player and probably our top pitcher," says Greg Holbrook, head coach of the Radford Bobcats, a Dixie Youth baseball team. "He's a very good infielder and he can also play outfield. Reese has a good bat and good speed as well."

JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

Coach Greg Holbrook talks to his team, the Radford Bobcats, after practice. The Radford Recreation Department will be hosting the Dixie Youth 9- and 10-year-old boys district baseball tournament.

| Matthew Sams

Special to The Roanoke Times

RADFORD -- Next weekend, Greg Holbrook will likely be a very busy man.

The Radford Recreation Department will be hosting the Dixie Youth 9- and 10-year-old boys district baseball tournament. And Holbrook, as the assistant director of parks and recreation, is in charge of the tournament.

Besides his logistical duties, Holbrook will also be at the helm of one of the teams in the tournament. He is the head coach of the host all-star team, the Radford Bobcats.

"Each year, the Radford Recreation Department tries to host a district tournament," Holbrook said. "Last year we hosted the 9-, 10-year-old softball tournament, and we've rotated to the boys this year."

The Radford Recreation Department will be in charge of securing local sponsorships and maintaining the tournament host site, Radford's Veterans Field, when play begins June 26.

The teams from Auburn, Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Eastern Montgomery/Shawsville and Radford should be familiar with one another, as they all play in the same regular season district. Dublin, Pulaski and Patrick County are added for all-star district tournament play.

First-round pairings are not determined by any form of ranking system. They will be randomly assigned on Sunday by essentially pulling team names out of a hat. Game times will also be determined once pairings are established.

As coach of the Bobcats, Holbrook obviously has a vested interest in all of the teams in the tournament.

"I think all of the teams will be competitive," he said. "But Blacksburg, Christiansburg and Patrick County have really been the teams to beat in recent years.

"We hope that all the teams will come out and play well."

The Bobcats roster was selected from three regular season teams of 14 players in Radford. Holbrook and his assistants selected 12 players from a pool of 42 regular season players for the all-star team. Of those 12 total players, 11 are 10-year-olds.

The Bobcats feature two players who played on the all-star team as 9-year-olds last season. The returning players, Reese Williamson and Michael Wheeler, will likely be key contributors to this year's team.

"Reese Williamson is an all-around player and probably our top pitcher," Holbrook said. "He's a very good infielder and he can also play outfield. Reese has a good bat and good speed as well.

"Michael Wheeler is the other returning all-star. He's also a very good all-around ballplayer. He plays both infield and outfield."

The Bobcats began practice on Monday and were hampered by rain much of the week. It often takes all-star teams a few days to learn how to play together. As such, Holbrook hopes that dry practice time will be more readily available in the coming days.

"We've only practiced a few days at this point," Holbrook said, "but we're going to work hard over the next week."

Holbrook will hold practice at Radford's Hodge Field through the weekend and into next week. He hopes the team will come together and play well.

"With this age group, you never know how things might pan out," Holbrook said. "But we're the host team, and we want to give a good showing in the tournament.

"We'll hope to be prepared and play a good ballgame next Friday night."