It was a tough day for Bluffton teams at the Dixie baseball and softball state tournaments on Saturday, as all three local teams lost their opening games.
The only area baseball team in action was the Bluffton American all-star squad, which opened the AA Machine Pitch (age 9-10) state tournament against host Lexington. Bluffton led 4-0 through five innings before the host team rallied for a 7-5 victory. Bluffton will play an elimination game at 1 p.m. Sunday.
In the state softball tournaments in Dillon, both Bluffton teams found themselves on the wrong end of lopsided contests. The Bluffton Darlings lost 10-0 to Lancaster, while the Bluffton Angels fell 23-0 to Lancaster. Both teams play elimination games Sunday afternoon.