TIFTON — Teams will be coming into Tifton from all over the state as part of a two-day baseball tournament at Devil Diamond and Tift County High.

Tift head coach Kyle Kirk said the schools represented are McEachern, Islands, Coffee and, of course, Tift.

McEachern is from Powder Springs and Islands is a Savannah school.

Kirk said two games are scheduled tonight and three will be played Saturday.

Tickets will be $5 Friday and $8 Saturday, he said. Tift County season tickets will be honored.

McEachern and Coffee will start the tournament with a 5 p.m. game, with Islands and Tift following at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Islands and McEachern will play at noon. Islands will then play essentially a doubleheader with a contest against Coffee at 2:30 p.m. Tift and McEachern wrap the tournament at 5 p.m.

Kirk described McEachern as having “good talent.” While 2-2, the Indians have beaten powerhouse South Paulding and went to extra innings with last year’s Class AAAAAAA state champs, Walton.

Coffee is rebounding, he said. The Trojans have won three games, including a 6-2 loss to Tift Monday.

Kirk said Islands has one of the toughest schedules in the state. The Sharks’ first three games had them playing Dacula, Mountain View and Hebron Christian.

Tift enters 4-1, with a single loss to Pierce County. The Devils made amends for that with a 2-0 victory over Pierce Tuesday.

The tournament had been in the works for a couple of years, Kirk said. He initially talked with some north Georgia schools about coming down to Tifton. Once McEachern heard the weather was 20 degrees warmer and rain was unlikely, Kirk said they were sold on playing.

There are plans to expand the tournament next year. Hillgrove has already shown interest, he said.

The new pitch count rules should have an impact on all teams during the weekend.

Tift has already been affected by the rules, which limits a hurler to 110 pitches thrown in a single game.

Le Bassett pitched 6 2/3 innings Tuesday in the win against Pierce County, but was near the 110 mark and was relieved by Patrick Reed.

“It makes it interesting,” said Kirk, who said Bassett likely would have completed the game had the Devils not committed four errors.

“There is a high emphasis on strike percentage,” he said.

If a pitcher throws 86-110 pitches, he must rest three days before throwing in a game again. Two days of rest are required for 61-85 pitches and one day for 36-60 pitches. Pitch counts less than that require no rest.

After the tournament, the Devils play again Tuesday against Valdosta in a 6 p.m. start.