With 10 of their 13 players having played in the World Series before, the Christiansburg All-Stars will have plenty of expience as they take to the field in the 2010 Dixie Baseball World Series, which starts Saturday at the Harkrader Sports Complex in Christiansburg.

"We have a lot of experience when it come down to playing in the World Series," said David Wallace, manager of the Christiansburg All-Stars.

Playing in their third World Series are Christian Wallace and Andrew McFee, while Seth Wills, Josh Moore, Andrew Dunn, Justin Dunford, Gabe Quesenberry, Ryan Saunders, Jordan Fenton and Aaron Jackson are playing in their second World Series. Newcomers to the big show are Erik Gaynor, Michael Harris and Logan Adkins.

Another factor to take in as far as experience goes is...nine of the 13 players also all played middle school baseball together this past season. They include Wallace, McFee, Harris, Dunn, Adkins, Fenton, Quesenberry, Saunders and Jackson.

"We are strong defensively and we have a lot of versatile players that can see action at different positions," added Wallace.

Pitching-wise, Christiansburg will have six players that could see action on the mound. The ace of the staff is Wills, who will get the start in Saturday night's opener against Searcy, Arkansas. "Wills has several different pitches and good speed on all of them," said the coach.

Also seeing duty on the mound will be Quesenberry, Wallace, Dunn, Dunford and Jackson. According to the coach, Quisenberry will start the second game. Both Wallace and Dunn, will be the top relievers. However, any one of our picthers may be called on at any time to either start or come out of the bullpen.

Taking care of the infield will be Wills at first base, Wallace at second, Quesenberry at the hot corner, Dunn at shortstop, Fenton at catching and McFee will also see action at first base.

Chasing the ball down in the outfield will include Adkins, Gaynor, Moore, Dunford, Saunders, Jackson and Harris.

"We are very versatile, as a lot of our players can play at different positions as needed," noted Wallace.

As for hitting, the coach said their power hitters will be Quesenberry and Wills, both who will be competing in the home run derby on Friday. "However, everyone on this team can hit," the coach mentioned.

As to what it will take to win the World Series, the veteran coach said, "Good pitching, good defense and good hitting."

"I told our team to make the routine plays all the time and the spectacular plays some of the time," said Wallace.

Assisting Wallace in the coaching duties will be Tom McFee and Billy Quesenberry.

The Christiansburg All-Stars, the host team, takes on Searcy (Arkansas) at 7 p.m. Saturday night in the opening round.

The cost of admission is $5 per day for those 13 and over, $3 for those 7 through 12 and free for those under 6.

Complete coverage (photos, stories and video) of the Dixie Boys World Series, including live play-by-play webcasts of every game can be found here on www.valleysportsnow.com.

Photo: The 2010 Christiansburg All-Stars include: Front Row (L to R)  Michael Harris, Christian Wallace, Aaron Jackson, Erik Gaynor, Logan Adkins and Ryan Saunders. Back Row (L to R) Jordan Fenton, Manager David Wallace, Andrew McFee, Andrew Dunn, Coach Tom McFee, Josh Moore, Gabe Quesenberry, Seth Wills, Coach Billy Quesenberry and Justin Dunford. (Photo courtesy of Christiansburg Parks and Recreation)
 

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