Little league teams from around the Pacific Southwest will descend on the area starting this weekend to play in the regional tournament. With teams coming to the area from as far away as Hawaii it will be a fantastic two weeks of baseball.
Jill Emerson, Southern Utah Cal Ripken Commissioner, stopped by Castle Country Radio Studios to talk about bringing the tournament back to Carbon County.
“This year we were set to have just two age groups, 10 and 14 and due to COVID, California can not let many people in. So with that being open I was sent a request and luckily we have great parents and a great committee to take this all on and they entrust us to put on a great event.”
There will be two age groups the 9 & 10 year old will begin July 18-24. The 14 year old group will start on July 25 and wrap up play the 30.
Teams will travel from California, Nevada Arizona, Hawaii and teams from around the state. Emerson added that Price will be well represented with 9,10,11,12 and 14 year old teams all going to regionals. Emery will also send a team to regionals in the in the 9 & 10 year old division.
Helper’s Borla Field will be the backdrop for the 9 year old tournament with the Toy Atwood complex being used for the 10 year old division.
The 14 year old class with be playing at the Carbon High School fields.
The 9 & 10 year old age groups will begin the week on July 18 with a skills challenge starting at 7:30 p.m., at the fields at the fairgrounds softball complex. They will have a home run derby, around the horn and base running. Pool play will begin on Monday the 19 at Borla Field and the Atwood Complex. The winner of the 10 year old bracket will head to the World Series.
Then on the following Sunday the 25, the 14 year old group will have their skills challenge under the lights at the Helper Legion Field at 8:00 p.m.. Their play will begin on Monday the 26 on the fields at Carbon High. The 14 year old champion will also move on to the World Series.
With the pandemic last year there were a lot of leagues that were unable to raise any funds so this year there will be a fee to attend the games.
“So a lot of budgets were cut, people did not make money due to not playing, so we do have to charge a $5 entry fee to each game or a $20 weekly fee. In the years past, yes I have not had to do that and I want as many people to come out and watch games but, with budget we do have to pay $3000.00 per age group just to get here in Price let alone. We have had several sponsorships come through and we are so thankful to them but on top of everything else to meet our budget we do have to charge this year”, Emerson said.
They have also teamed up with Carbon County Tourism and have reached out to the business community to let them know to be ready with the influx of people coming to the area. They are also going to be keeping track of where the guest will be frequenting when in town and how much the two weeks of baseball will put into the bottom line of the county.