STAFFORD, Va. — The Laurinburg Optimist 11U All-Stars, led by coach Jeff Byrd, won the North Carolina state championship earlier this month, but quickly encountered adversity at the 2015 Babe Ruth Southeast Regional Tournament on Wednesday.

Optimist opened pool play with a loss against East Rowan, falling 5-1. Laurinburg played Hendersonville (Tennessee) later Wednesday night, but the game was not completed at press time.

The All-Stars will play East Rowan again tonight at 8 p.m., then wrap up pool play against Hendersonville on Friday at 9 a.m.

Laurinburg is part of the three-team Southern Division in the National bracket. Once pool play finishes Friday, the top two teams from the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Division will advance to the regional quarterfinals, which is set to begin Saturday. The American and National bracket winner will meet in the championship game at 4 p.m. Sunday.

Staff report