Clint Thompson/Photo The TIft County 12U All-Stars baseball team will defend its state championship beginning June 25 at Gainesville.

TIFTON — The Tift County 12U All-Stars’ quest for a second straight state championship begins Wednesday, June 25 in Gainesville, Georgia.

The 12U All-Stars will open the state tournament at 10 a.m. and will play the winner of Dawson County and Hapeville. It is looking to follow last year’s state championship with another title run, says head coach B.J. Southers.

“This team has the capability to duplicate last year’s success. We have the experience, talent and mindset to take care of business and bring home another state championship for Tift County,” Southers said. “We are looking forward to another successful championship week.”

This year’s team includes Grant Barber, Easton Brown, Jax Bryant, Beckett Davis, David Floyd, Hogan Gordon, Parker Graves, Sy Griffin, Bryton Jones, Bear Southers, Tucker Thompson and Daniel Vonier.

The assistant coaches include Loren Griffin, Ryan Gordon and Clint Thompson.

The All-Stars captured the district championship on June 9 with wins over Bainbridge (5-4) and Grady County (9-4). Tift defeated Bainbridge on a walk-off balk in the district opener. It then fell behind 4-2 to Grady County before scoring three runs in the third inning and four in the fourth to pull away from Grady.

Southers, Vonier, Jones and Graves each had two hits against Grady. Vonier notched the win in relief, pitching 2.1 scoreless innings with two hits and three strikeouts.

Bryant recorded the win for Tift against Bainbridge, pitching a scoreless inning in relief with one strikeout.

If Tift wins on Wednesday, it will play again on Thursday at 10 a.m. If it loses on Wednesday, Tift will play again that same day at noon.

The double-elimination tournament will be held at the J. Melvin Cooper Youth Athletic Complex.