The Lincoln County Americans captured the Dixie Youth AAA 10-year-olds North Sub-District crown after defeating the Lincoln County Nationals 20-10 Wednesday night at Keystone Park in Brookhaven.

With the win, the Americans finished the tournament undefeated with a 3-0 record. They will advance to play McComb, the South Sub-District winner, in a best-of-three series to see who will enter the State Tournament in Laurel as the No. 1 seed and No. 2 seed.

The best-of-three series will start Friday in McComb for Game 1. Game time is set to start at 7 p.m. The series will return to Brookhaven Saturday for Game 2 and if needed Game 3. Game times for Saturday are undecided.

Lincoln Co. Americans 20, Lincoln Co. Nationals 10 

The Lincoln County Americans and Nationals All-Stars provided their baseball fans with an exciting offensive thriller as both teams lit up the scoreboard, scoring 30 runs in a four-inning contest.

In the bottom of the first inning, the Americans quickly took charge and set the tone of the contest early as they plated four runs to secure a 4-0 lead.

In the top of the second inning, the Nationals answered with a three-run home run by Landon Burgess to cut into the Americans’ lead at 4-3.

In the bottom of the second inning, the Americans continued their offensive attack as they put together a six-run surge to take a commanding 10-3 lead.

In the top of the third inning, the Nationals’ offense responded with a seven-run blast to tie the game at 10-all.

In the bottom of the third inning, the Americans answered the Nationals’ challenge with their own seven-run explosion to reclaim the lead at 17-10.

The Americans’ defense stepped up in the top of the fourth inning to deny the Nationals’ offense from rallying back into the contest. In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Americans managed to score their final three runs to win the contest on a 10-run mercy rule and claim the North Sub-District crown.

Payne Waldrop was the winning pitcher for the Americans with four strikeouts and three walks in four innings of work.

J.T. Smith suffered the setback on the mound for the Nationals with one strikeout and three walks. Brantley Day (0K, 3BB) and Trenton Tarver (0K, 2BB) also pitched in relief for the Nationals.

Jacob Rushing and Waldrop powered the Americans’ offensive attack with three singles each. Carter Holcomb and Caleb Smith ripped a pair of singles apiece. Brandon Welch had a double. Hitting safely were Will Loy, Caden Yarborough and Corby Husser.

Burgess was the top hitter at the plate for the Nationals with a three-run home run. J.T. Smith contributed two singles. Connor Martin and Peyton Prather provided a double each. Riley Easterling, Logan Case, Trevor Smith, Trenton Tarver and Logan Bardwell hit safely.