Busy weekend on tap at Halls Ferry|[08/02/07]

Published 12:00 am Thursday, August 2, 2007

Mike Koestler was a happy man Sunday.

As the first weekend of the Governor’s Cup wrapped up, there hadn’t been a lot of major crises or problems. Trash was picked up, the fields were clean, and most of the on-the-field questions were related to scores, not controversial calls.

As this weekend approaches, the Vicksburg Baseball Association treasurer and Governor’s Cup tournament director is hoping for a repeat.

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The second weekend of the Governor’s Cup starts Friday, literally twice as big as the first. Sixty-three teams will descend on Halls Ferry Park to play for trophies in five age groups.

&#8220We’ve got everything set,” Koestler said. &#8220It’s just going to be a lot of people coming in and out, a lot of parking issues, those kinds of things.”

During the first weekend, when 34 teams competed, one field at Halls Ferry Park wasn’t even used. This time, all six youth baseball fields, the larger Bazinsky Field, and four softball fields will all be utilized.

The smaller softball fields are ideal for the younger age groups, Koestler said. The 7-year-olds’ division will play about half its games on the slow-pitch field near Home Depot, while the 8-year-olds will play all of their games on the Bazinsky Park fast-pitch fields.

&#8220That alleviated pressure on the BMX Field for those age groups,” Koestler said. &#8220As long as we had two fields for those age groups, we’re doing fine.”

Besides the shuffling of fields, Koestler and his tournament directors have also played tricks with starting times.

Two games in both the 7-year-olds’ and 12-and-under age groups are scheduled to start the tournament at 2 p.m. Friday. The Vicksburg Pirates and Northeast War Hawks will play a 10-year-olds’ game an hour later. Other than a couple of ceremonial Thursday night games, it’s the earliest the tournament has started.

Being able to use every available field and start early has its benefits, though. During the first weekend, some teams were unhappy about starting Sunday’s games at 8 a.m. It conflicted with early-morning church services and led to a long day. The Vicksburg Venom, for example, played their first game Sunday at 8 a.m., then went on to win the 9-year-olds’ championship in a game that finished shortly before 9 p.m.

Koestler said that early start was unavoidable.

&#8220That’s just the way the schedule worked out. We were aware of that, and there were some people who wanted to have a church service at the ballpark. But we weren’t sure if we could do that on city property,” he said. &#8220I knew some teams would have to do that, and it’s just coin flip on which ones. I hated that, but they play 8 o’clock games everywhere else.”