The Troy Belles have their bags packed and are ready to head to Louisiana for a run at World Series Championship.

The Troy Belles are making their fifth trip to the World Series in the last six years.

It’s been 17 days since Troy took home the state championship in Troy. Head coach Max Bundy said the players are trying to heal up and be ready to go by Saturday.

“We have been practicing,” Bundy said. “We have a few bummed up and we are trying to work through that. The girls have high spirits and we have high hopes. The girls are really excited about going and playing and we are looking forward to a good weekend.”

The Belles had little trouble dispatching teams on their way to a state title. They finished the tournament with unblemished record capped off with a 10-0 win over UAM in the championship game.

“They were really pumped up and excited about representing Troy at the state tournament,” Bundy said. “They played really well. We are just hoping that that carries over to the World Series. They are ready to go and they are fired up.”

Even though the Belles haven’t had any official action in the last two and a half weeks, they have still been on the field. Since the state tournament, Troy has played in warm up tournaments with travel ball teams that included players from the junior college level.

“We competed well,” Bundy said. “We hit the ball pretty good, but we had to play up. We couldn’t play in 14U. We were playing where the 16 and the 18U were playing together. Some of these teams had junior college players. We competed with them and hit the ball. The pitching was good. We just had some fielding errors. We looked a little rusty to start with, but as we went along, we got better.”

After being able to represent their city at the state tournament, they now get to not only represent Troy, but the entire state of Alabama in Louisiana.

“They are very excited because, in Dixie ball, they are the best in Alabama,” Bundy said. “They were awarded for their playing ability. If everything plays out right, we are going to play them tough. We have a great group of girls and they are going to play their hardest. We are proud of them.”

Troy made it to the World Series a year ago before falling to South Carolina, ending their season. They will be going up against the best that the southeast has to offer beginning on Saturday.

“I told the girls that you’re going to go up there and see great ball clubs,” Bundy said. “Most of the teams we saw last year were travel ball teams. These girls have been together for a long time. These teams we are going up against are the best in their states. We are going to have be on our A game because they are going to be on theirs. I told them one thing you’re going to see is good pitching.”

Troy will have their fair share of good pitching as well, led by Morgan Bundy and Ally Rushing.

“Our pitching was top notch at state,” Bundy said. “Our pitching has been strong. Our pitchers spot pitch. Wherever we call pitches, that’s where he have to throw them.”

Bundy believes, as a team, that the Belles do much better against a faster pitcher. During the travel ball tournament and at practice, Bundy has put his players through live batting practice where they have been able to see pitches at different speeds.

“Hopefully we’ll see good pitchers that pitch to the level that their used too,” Bundy said. “It’s hard for many girls and for our girls to sit back against a slower pitcher. We are going to see some slower pitchers. We saw them last year. We have been working on it.”

The World Series will begin with opening ceremonies on Friday night with games beginning on Saturday. Troy will play their first game at 9 a.m. against Florida.