NATCHEZ — Young ball players that want to play baseball at the highest level this summer will have the opportunity to do just that this weekend.

A tryout for a new USSSA baseball team for children born after May 1, 2002, will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Vidalia minor league field. Gregg Johnson and Seth Eidt will coach the team.

Eidt said they are looking for the top 9-year-old and under talent they can find, but anyone is welcome to come try out for the team Saturday.

“We are looking for kids capable of pitching, playing infield and outfield positions, and being able to bat against upper-end pitching,” Eidt said.

Eidt said he put out a lot of advertisements for tryouts in towns within an hour of Natchez for tryouts. He said he hopes the team will be made up of players from all over the area. With that in mind, Eidt said they wanted to have a team name that did not identify with one town.

The team is called The Naturals, after the 1984 film “The Natural.”

Eidt said he has no idea how many players will show up for tryouts Saturday.

“We had no RSVP, so there could be as many as 200, or we could have none,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll have at least some local kids.”

Eidt said the team’s roster would be limited to 12 players, with the possibility of two or three alternates.

The team will be designated a USSSA Double-A team, meaning it is a start-up team, Eidt said.

“The more games, more wins and more runs you have, you get moved up from Double-A to Triple-A,” he said.

Eidt said he hopes to have the team formed and start competing in tournaments by June. They will play in USSSA tournaments all over Mississippi and Louisiana.

Eidt said he and Johnson decided to start the team this year, because their sons are now at the age where they can participate at the USSSA level.

“We had coached before and wanted to start our own team up, and have our own brand of baseball,” Eidt said. “This just seemed the opportune time.”

For more information about the team or tryouts, contact Johnson at 601-660-6101 or Eidt at 601-660-0084.