The Buckingham County Major League All-Star team has been busy the past three weeks, practicing and raising money for its second straight appearance in the Dixie Youth Baseball Majors World Series.

On July 10, the Buckingham squad repeated as the undefeated Virginia Dixie Youth Baseball Majors state champion and will begin representing Virginia in the World Series in Lumberton, North Carolina, on Saturday at 8 p.m. against Louisiana.

Raising funds for the 4.5-hour trip and potential stay through Thursday, Aug. 9, has been a key priority for the Buckingham boys.

“We had a McDonald’s night, where a percentage of the sales went to us, and that was a good turnout, and a bunch of the people from the community came and ate,” Buckingham Manager John Toney said. “And we had raffle tickets for a cooler that we’re going to raffle off, and a lot of people bought into them.”

He noted the team benefited from a similar fundraiser Monday at Frida’s Mexican Restaurant in Dillwyn, “and a bunch of the community came out again.”

“We’ve had a lot of support from people in the county, people from Farmville, Cumberland,” Toney said. “We’ve had a lot of donations from businesses like Haley Auto Mall … We’ve done really well for a small town.”

He thanked The Farmers Bank of Appomattox in Dillwyn for its helpfulness with the team account.

Toney, his staff and his players have also been able to get in some consistent practice time on the fields at Gene Dixon Sr. Memorial Park. Toney credited Todd Shumaker and Marty Allen for maintaining fields for the team, as it is the last squad left in the county that is still playing.

Virginia’s games will be broadcast live on Kickin’ Country 92.9 (WVHL-FM) and WVHL.net. Also, all World Series games will be televised live on YouTube.com. Search for “JockJive Sports” on YouTube.com at the appropriate game times.