STAFFORD, Va. — The Laurinburg Optimist 11U All-Stars, led by coach Jeff Byrd, won the North Carolina state championship earlier this month, and have split the first two games of the 2015 Babe Ruth Southeast Regional Tournament.

Optimist opened pool play Wednesday with a loss against East Rowan, falling 5-1. Laurinburg played Hendersonville (Tennessee) later that night and rebounded to win 12-0.

The All-Stars played East Rowan again Thursday night at 8 p.m., but the game was not completed at press time. Optimist wraps up pool play against Hendersonville today at 9 a.m.

Laurinburg is part of the three-team Southern Division in the National bracket. Once pool play finishes today, 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