MORRISTOWN-It's been quite a journey to get this far. They play an entire regular season, then have to fight their way through a tough District Tournament. Now, it's their time to shine.

The 11 year-old Tennessee State Tournament saw its' opening pitch Saturday night at Frank Lorino Park's Bob Spoon Field in Morristown, and the Cocke County Recreation Department's Smoky Mountain All-Stars were one of three teams left in the state still competing, along with Morristown and Daniel Boone.

With Morristown acting as host, they received an opening round bye leaving Smoky Mountain and Daniel Boone to do battle on opening night.

Just to make it this far is quite an accomplishment, but the competition at State Tournament's is tough, and the Smoky Mountain girls found that out very quickly.

It was a night that Smoky Mountain would just as soon forget, one of those nights that every team has where nothing seems to go right. Walks and errors doomed the ladies from Smoky Mountain from the get-go as Daniel Boone plated 10 runs in the top of the first inning and Smoky Mountain was never able to recover.

Smoky plated two in the bottom of the first, but Boone came back with three more runs in the top of the second, and sealed the deal in the third with nine more runs. Smoky managed three runs in the bottom of the third, but Boone finished up with two more in the top of the fourth. As Smoky went quietly in the bottom of the fourth, the game was over, and Boone advanced to the winner's bracket with a 24-5 victory.

Smoky is still alive and kicking, however, and will have a chance to right the ship when they take on either Morristown or Daniel Boone tonight in the loser's bracket final. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Frank Lorino Park's Bob Spoon Field with the winner advancing to the championship game on Thursday night.

Meanwhile, the Smoky Mountain All-Stars 7-8 girl's coach pitch squad opened State Tournament play in Pulaski with a tough 11-10 loss and must play their way out of the loser's bracket. And, the Smoky Mountain All-Stars 7-8 boy's coach pitch baseball squad was upended 11-2 in their opener at the State Tournament in Lexington.