Published: June 20, 2009 11:58 pm      

Softball event consolidated at Northeast

After years of holding the softball competition of the State Games of Mississippi at both Sammie Davidson and Northeast Park, this year’s games were all played Saturday at Northeast Park.

With one of the smallest draws in recent memory, the softball competition only featured 25 teams this year, but officials don’t see the consolidation of the two locations as a bad thing.

“We could have played at both parks, but it creates a better atmosphere having everybody at one place,” E.T. Colvin, who is serving as the softball commissioner, said. “We knew we could still get through fairly early tonight, playing all of the games today. We’ve had some years play until 2 in the morning.”

Approximately 325 softball players are taking part in this year’s competition in five classifications — 8-and-under coach-pitch, 10-and-under slow-pitch, 10-and-under fast-pitch, 12-and-under slow-pitch and 18-and-under fast-pitch.

The 8U bracket had seven teams with Neshoba Elite taking the gold medal, while Tropical Storm took the gold in the 10U fast-pitch. Grenada All-Stars and the Bulldogs claimed the gold in 12U and 18U, respectively.

“This format is a little different from some tournaments that these teams will play in,” Colvin said. “There is a lot more pageantry with the opening ceremonies and we give out individual medals to the players instead of a team trophy. It has a little more prestige.”

Some of the teams in the State Games have been together for a while and have already taken part in some tournaments, while others are just now forming and are using Saturday’s games as a tune-up for the Amateur Softball Association’s State Tournaments, beginning next week.