In his first year as tournament director of the Governor’s Cup, Rickey Mitchell waited until the last minute to draw up the brackets.

It was a smart move.

A late rush has swollen the tournament field to a record 103 teams in 10 age groups this week and next. “On July 19 we had 81 teams. In four days we went from 81 to 103,” Mitchell said. “It’s been very, very busy to say the least. I’ve handled 50 or 60 phone calls a day.”

The tournament begins tonight at Halls Ferry Park and Bazinsky Field with 20 games in the 7-, 10-, 12-, 13- and 16-year-olds’ divisions. Pool play will continue on Saturday, and the championship games will be Sunday. Next weekend, the 6-, 8-, 9-, 11- and 14-year-olds take the field.

While some tournament teams have scaled back their schedules because of rising fuel costs, most seem to have reserved a spot on the calendar for the Governor’s Cup. A total of 51 teams have registered for this weekend, and 52 for next week. Mitchell said there’s still a chance a few teams could be added for the second weekend to make an even number of teams in each age group.

“I’m tickled pink. The desire to play baseball in Vicksburg, Mississippi, has not diminished in the least little bit,” he said. “It’s nothing I’ve done or the Aquila Group has done. I hear over and over from people who call who say the Governor’s Cup is a great tournament to play in. The job the VBA, and now the VWAA, have done only makes it that much more attractive. It’s something the city of Vicksburg can be proud of because it’s grown into something people look forward to coming to play in.”

Since moving to Vicksburg from Madison in 1995, the Governor’s Cup has more than tripled in size. In 1995, 31 teams competed. In 2001, the tournament was split into two weekends for the first time, which allowed the number of teams to double to about 60. And in 2006, by temporarily converting several softball fields to baseball for coach-pitch divisions, several more age groups and roughly 35 teams were added. Mitchell said there was room for more, but wasn’t willing to risk a long rain delay clogging the schedule.

Instead, he’ll wait a while to expand it.

The Aquila Group, which runs the Halls Ferry fields for the city of Vicksburg, has plans to build a new youth baseball complex on Fisher Ferry Road. When it’s completed, Mitchell said large tournaments like the Governor’s Cup may become more than just an end of summer occasion.

“We’re at about max capacity. We could’ve done 70 on one weekend and been busting at the seams. Fifty-one or 52 gives us a little bit of wiggle room if you don’t have a major rain delay,” said Mitchell, who serves as Aquila’s liaison to the city and manages the fields. “If we had a bigger facility, I think we could have 70- or 80-team tournaments on any given weekend.”