The Moore County Majors team suffered a loss in its opening round contest of the Dixie Youth World Series Saturday, dropping a 12-2 decision.

Rain played havoc with the schedule of the tournament, causing all AAA (10U teams) games to be pushed back to a Sunday start. Majors (12U) play didn’t start until late in the afternoon. There are 24 teams from 11 states competing in the double-elimination event that concludes Thursday. There are 12 teams in each bracket (AAA and Majors) of the tournament being held at Hillcrest Park in Carthage.

Moore County’s game against a squad from Dunn, the North Carolina Dixie state champions, didn’t end until after midnight. Nathan Batalla provided the local squad with its only runs when he blasted a two-run homer in the bottom of the first. That made the score 3-2 at the end of one inning of play.

But the boys from Dunn would pound out 10 hits and nine more runs to take the win.

Other first-round games in Majors play saw Alabama defeat Tennessee, 4-1, Florida defeat Texas, 10-0, Georgia defeat South Carolina, 8-3, Mississippi defeat Virginia, 12-0, and Louisiana defeat Arkansas, 2-0.