[7/11/03]After a two-month rain delay, Vicksburg’s fast-pitch softball community is ready to roll out the red carpet and play ball.

“The Rumble on the River,” Vicksburg’s first major fast-pitch tournament, will begin Saturday at the Bazinsky Park and Halls Ferry Park fields. The tournament was originally scheduled in May, but was postponed when 3 inches of rain swamped the city and inundated the fields.

Some teams have dropped out since then mostly Louisiana teams that had a schedule conflict with their state tournament but the new date has allowed others to come in and keep the field around 20 teams in five age groups. Two new age groups, 8-and-under and 18-and-under, could still be added.

“I think we’re still going to be fine,” tournament co-director Rhea Fuller said. “We’re still going to end up with 20 or 30 teams, and that’s good for a first-year tournament.”

The rainout was disappointing, but the dark May clouds had a silver lining for organizers.

At first, they were scrambling to put everything together. Most of their promotion had been phone calls and word-of-mouth. With an extra two months to plan, though, local teams have gotten the word out at other tournaments around the state and on several web sites. That has helped attract some new teams and fill the spots left by the departing Louisiana squads.

“The additional benefit is we’ve been to a lot of tournaments since we were scheduled to throw this the first time,” Fuller said. “We’ve actually been able to promote it, because we’ve been to some of these communities.”

The new date is also beneficial to competitive teams. It’s the week before a major regional tournament, and serves as a tune-up for teams that have gained national tournament bids.

Those factors, along with a lower chance of rain in July than May, have Rumble organizers weighing a permanent July date for future tournaments.

“We’re trying to see if having it this late works out,” tournament co-director Howard Johnson said. “It’s going to depend on the fields. If the Governor’s Cup comes in, all the baseball teams are going to take the fields. It’s hard to say if we’re going to be able to have it any later than we are this year … We’re kind of experimenting with weekends this year.”

If this year’s tournament is successful, Johnson and Fuller have bigger aspirations for the future. They hope to expand the Rumble on the River to a 30-or-40-team tournament, similar to the Governor’s Cup baseball tournament.

To do that, though, more fields will be needed. A good showing this year will help their case, they said.

“We think if we can bring in teams that are going to affect the economy, and spend money on food and hotels, it’ll help,” Fuller said.