It's the start of a busy month for the area Tar Heel Leagues teams in youth softball and baseball, with the District V Championships getting started at Clayton Community Park on Monday night and Smithfield Community Park on Tuesday night.

First up will be the championship series (best two-of-three) in girls 8U, 10U and 12U softball at Clayton Community Park.

All three series between Johnston County South and Johnston County North will be played on Monday, Tuesday and (if necessary) Thursday night. Game times in the 8U series are 6:30 nightly, while the 10U teams get started at 7:45. The 12U games are at 7 p.m.

In the Coach-Pitch tournament, teams Smithfield, Meadow, Four Oaks, Princeton, Clayton, North Johnston, Benson and Cleveland will open double-elimination play with first-round games on Tuesday night at Smithfield Community Park. The tournament runs through Friday night.

Play in the District V Midget League (ages 9-10), Little League (ages 11-12) and Junior League (ages 13-14) begins on July 9 and runs through July 14 or 15, depending on the winners.