CRESTVIEW — The Garden City Little League Park will be abuzz with the sound of tournament softball this weekend, as the Crestview Little League hosts the first of three summer tournaments.
"June 8 we've got a special games tournament for the girls machine pitch 7-8 softball, which last about four days," league president Melvin "Catfish" Hill said. “And then June 22-25 we've got the 9- and 10-(year-olds) that actually start the district tournament. And in July we host the sectional.
"June 22 is when they start making it to the (Little League) World Series."
Saturday's games are scheduled for 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Games starting Monday will begin at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. in the double elimination tournament.
Admission is free for all Little League tournaments.
Hill expects that teams at this week's tournament — from Shalimar, DeFuniak Springs, Destin, Niceville and, possibly, Panama City — will conclude with a championship game June 13.
In addition, the 7- to 8-year-olds’ machine pitch baseball team will compete in a DeFuniak Springs tournament starting Saturday.
Hill — who expects more than 100 players at each tournament — said Garden City will host the sectional tournament in July even if the local league doesn't win the district tournament later this month.
Hill also said the league will play fall ball. The fall league will run from Aug. 24 to Oct. 25. Players’ registration is open and will continue through mid-July.
Contact Hill, 902-6237 or 4ballcatfish@gmail.com, for more information on the fall league.
You can also visit the league's Facebook page, Crestview Little League Garden City.
Randy Dickson is the Crestview News Bulletin’s sports editor. Email him at randyd@crestviewbulletin.com, tweet him @BigRandle, or call 682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview Little League hosts tournaments