It took five games, in two days and a 1 a.m. finish for the Troy Dixie Boys to walk away with the Alabama State Games Baseball championship in Dothan this weekend.

“We played great, and we played great together,” said head coach Steve Barron. “We lost the first game on Saturday but made some adjustments and they came back and played their hearts out. They have a pretty good goal right now of wanting to win. We have been pretty close to the top of the mountain. I think they are ready to make it now.”

Overall, the Troy Dixie Boys finished the tournament with a 4-1 record.

After losing their first game on Saturday to the Wiregrass Cardinals, Troy needed to win, while getting some help from other teams to advance out of pool play.

Troy got a win against Montgomery American to put the Dixie Boys into a three-way tie. Due to tiebreaking procedures, Troy ended pool play as the number two seed.

In the semi-finals, Troy defeated the Dothan Nationals by 6-2 putting them into a championship match up with Phenix City. After a rain delay that lasted until nearly 10:30 p.m., Troy outlasted Phenix City in a high scoring affair, 13-12.

“There was a lot of heart,” Barron said. “I am just so proud of all 13 of them. Everyone contributed, hit the ball, and everyone played well defensively. The guys that pitched, pitched great. I am very proud of this whole team and how they played. Their resiliency is amazing.”

During the entire tournament, Troy’s offense put on a show; Troy had four players hit over .400. Trevor Barron led the way hitting .625; Max Copeland batted .500. Cody Hollis hit .538 and Clay Barron hit .400. Overall, Troy hit .384 during the tournament.

The pitching staff for Troy over the weekend didn’t disappoint either. Jade Sikes, Brock Huner, Clay Barron and Tyrell Jones, all turned in stellar pitching performances over the weekend.

Barron was pleased with the pitching staff overall over the weekend but admits his guys need to keep their pitch counts down to become successful.

Troy’s run to the championship is quite a feat when you throw in the fact they have only practiced as a team a handful of times.

“We probably only practiced four times,” Barron said. “These 13 boys have played school ball, and travel ball together. They know how to play the game of baseball. We have a great coaching staff who puts in a lot of time and effort into it. It was a complete effort by everyone to put together some really good baseball. When you do that good things happen.”

Troy will now turn its sites to next month when the team will host the Dixie Boys State Tournament, being played in Troy on July 17.