By Jeff Byrd.

jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com.

Vicksburg will be talkin’ baseball all the way to football season.

The River City will be the host of six youth baseball tournaments over the next three weeks before the end-of-summer Governor’s Cup, a two-weekend tournament. The action begins Monday night with the start of a Cal Ripken 7-and 8-year-olds’ sectional tournament at Halls Ferry Park.

At the end of the week, two state tournaments affiliated with USSSA Baseball get underway for 9-and 10-year-olds’ all-star teams at Halls Ferry. The Cal Ripken 11- and 12-year-olds’ tournaments are scheduled for the weekend of July 8.

The flood of activity comes a year after Vicksburg hosted only the Governor’s Cup.

Vicksburg Baseball Association President Charles Camillo said the city’s success with the Governor’s Cup helped pave the way for this run of six tournaments in three weeks.

&#8220Basically what happened is that we, the Vicksburg Baseball Association, double affiliated our leagues this year,” Camillo said. &#8220Since the 1990s we’ve been involved with Cal Ripken and Babe Ruth Baseball. But after last year’s Governor’s Cup, we were approached by a representative from USSSA.

&#8220They were impressed with how we did the Governor’s Cup. They offered us their fall state tournament. But then (Hurricane) Katrina hit and pretty much wiped the event out. USSSA still thought a lot about us and has let us have their 9- and 10-year-old state tournaments.”

As for Cal Ripken Baseball, the VBA has been wanting to host a sectional event for the younger players for some time.

&#8220The tournament that begins Monday has been in Morton for the past 14 years. We have a good central location here and the teams, mostly from the Jackson area, don’t have to travel far,” Camillo said.

This week’s tournament will feature five 7-year-old all-star teams and 10 teams in the 8-year-old division. Vicksburg will have two teams in each age group.

The 7s will have the Vicksburg River Rats and the Vicksburg All-Stars. The 8s will have the Warren County Warriors and the Vicksburg Venom. The Venom open play Monday at 6 against Richland on the National Field. The Warriors face Star on the Bluff Field at 6. The Stars play Central Mississippi at 7 on Delta Field and the River Rats meet Florence at 8:30 on Delta.

Vicksburg Parks and Recreation Director Joe Graves said the tournaments are a positive for the city.

&#8220Tournaments like these bring good money into the city. Even if they are coming in just for the night. They still have got to eat and get gas,” Graves said. &#8220We’re looking at a bunch of baseball over the next three weeks. But that’s what we want. The more the better.”

Camillo says the city’s support is essential.

&#8220We couldn’t do this without the city’s support. They are excited about getting these tournaments,” Camillo said.

The one drawback for the VBA, is with so many games to put on, is that added cost of umpires.

&#8220The fee per team for the Governor’s Cup is $300 and that easily covers our expenses and helps keep the tournament going. With these state tournaments, we’ve got to have a gate in order to cover our umpire fees. If we can cover our fees, Vicksburg will be able to grow as a tournament site,” Camillo said.

The USSSA Tournament currently has eight teams in each of the 9- and 10-year-olds’ division. Teams will be coming from the Gulf Coast, Oak Grove, Meridian and Picayune. Since USSSA does not place many restrictions and there is no prequalifying, the list could grow by the week of the tournament.

Local teams entered include the Vicksburg Patriots in the 9-year-old tournament and the Vicksburg Gators in the 10s.

The Cal Ripken State Tournament is different. Teams have to qualify and there is a lot more pomp and circumstance.

&#8220With the Ripken Tournament we will have a banquet on Thursday night with a guest speaker. We’ll also have a team parade. The tournament schedule is pretty set, it’s double-elimination,” Camillo said.

The winner of each of the Ripken State Tournaments will advance to the Southwestern Regionals later in July.