By Staff
Mike Self, Franklin County Times
It's official: The Russellville Golden Tigers are going to Disney World!
Okay, so this isn't one of those celebratory trips teams traditionally make after winning the Super Bowl or a national championship or something. But head coach David Ward is hopeful that seven games in four days against tough competition from all over the country will help his team become championship material.
"We just want to go down there and work on our game and not worry about who we're playing," said Ward, whose team will begin play Thursday at Disney's Annual Baseball Spring Training Event at the Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando. "We know the level of competition is going to be extremely high. We'll be playing teams from schools that have 2,000-plus students, so it's going to be tough. We just need to focus on getting better."
Russellville will be trying to regain a little momentum in Orlando after a rough weekend. The Golden Tigers (9-2) opened the season with eight straight wins but then dropped two out of three games on Saturday, including an 11-1 loss to Muscle Shoals in the finals of the Pepsi Invitational.
Russellville also lost to Tuscaloosa County and defeated Walker in regular season action on Saturday.
The Golden Tigers will play their first game at Disney on Thursday at 5 p.m. against Lexington Christian Academy from Massachusetts.
Russellville will play a doubleheader against St. John's School (TX) on Friday beginning at 3 p.m., and they will play a pair of games against Christian High School (CA) and St. Benedict High School (TN) on Saturday starting at 1:30 p.m.
The Golden Tigers will conclude the trip on Sunday with games against Hopkins School (CT) and Charlotte County (NC) at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., respectively, before heading back home to begin play in the TimesDaily Classic next Monday.
Russellville and Florence will be the two host sites for the tournament. The Golden Tigers will face Deshler on Monday at 5 p.m.