About a 3-and-a-half-hour drive down Highway 84 is where all the action will take place at the 2012 Dixie Majors Baseball World Series in Laurel, Miss., from July 28 through Aug. 1.

Opp’s Dixie Majors will join 11 other teams from around the country to vie for the coveted trophy.

Tournament format is double elimination, and the states with a team competing in the tournament are Florida, Arkansas, South Carolina, Alabama, Virginia, Tennessee, Texas, North Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi and the tournament host, Laurel, Miss.

Opp won the state tournament in Selma to earn a spot in the World Series.

“I think we have a pretty good shot,” Opp Dixie Majors coach Zack Spann said. “If we come out and put up runs like we did in the state tournament, then we should do well at this tournament.

“It all depends on if we keep playing like we have,” he said.

The Bobcats beat East Alabama 18-0 in the state tournament championship.

Spann said if the team holds true to having quality pitching and defense along with scoring runs, then they can hang with anybody.

Opp will face South Carolina at 1 p.m. Saturday on Hosey Field in its first game of the tournament. There will be three games each played in winner’s and elimination bracket the following day on Sunday.

“I’ve been hearing they’ve been pretty good,” Spann said about South Carolina. “A lot of college programs get their kids in state.

“I would imagine that the talent pool at South Carolina is pretty good for baseball now,” he said. “We look forward to playing them and seeing where we stand nation wide.”

On Monday, the tournament will have two separate sessions, where there will be two winner’s bracket games, and five elimination bracket games.

The winner’s and elimination bracket finals will take place at 5 and 7:30 p.m., respectively, on Tues., July 31, on Wooten Field.

The World Series championship is at 5 p.m. on Wed., Aug. 1.

Opp will leave for Laurel tomorrow morning, and has had about 10 days to get ready for the World Series.

Spann said the team’s been working on what’s kept them alive this far into the season.

“Nothing you can put in or say can make a difference,” he said. “It’s just a matter of taking enough ground balls and taking enough cuts, and not lose the tools you’ve gained over the past month or so.”

With as much talent Opp has this season for the Dixie Majors, Spann said the credit for the team’s success lies with the players.

“They’re making all the plays and hits,” he said. “You’ve got to give them their due. They earned it.”