First annual P.I.G.S. tournament this weekend
by Angie Asam, Staff Writer
The first ever Presque Isle Girls? Softball (PIGS) tournament is scheduled for this Friday-Sunday. Twelve traveling fastpitch softball teams from across the state will be in town for more than 30 games to be played in Rogers City. Each team will play five games using three fields, Gilpin, Sports Park (The Hole) and the Little League field. The Presque Isle Panthers 18 and under (18U) traveling softball team made up of players from Rogers City, Posen and Onaway is hosting the tournament. Six 18U teams and six 16 and under (16U) teams will be in town, each team scheduled to play a minimum of five games.
Three local teams are participating in the tournament as the Panthers play in the 18U division and a Carmeuse Lime & Stone team and Moran Iron Works Vulcans will play in the 16U bracket. Games will begin at 5:15 p.m. on Friday with games at Gilpin and the Little League field. The Panthers will take on Unionville Sebawaing Area (USA) at the Little League field while the Alpena Thundercats play the Macomb Vipers at Gilpin in the 18U pool play. 16U pool play games will then be played at all three fields beginning at 7 p.m. and a 18U game will be played under the lights at The Hole beginning at 9 p.m. Carmeuse will play at 7 p.m. at The Hole while the Vulcans play at the Little League field at 7 p.m.
Other 16U teams are USA, the Shepard Lady Jays, the South Farmington Wildcards and the Richmond Blues. The remaining 18U teams are the Heartland Heat and the Midland Line Drive Express. Games begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at all three fields and continue throughout the day with a 9 p.m. game between the Panthers and Line Drive Express at The Hole wraps up Saturday?s action. Sunday teams will be placed in a seeded bracket (depending on Friday and Saturday?s results) and play for the title in their respective age division. Sunday?s games begin at 8:30 a.m.; the 16U finals are scheduled for 1:45 p.m. at Gilpin while the 18U finals will follow at 3:30 p.m. also at Gilpin.
Concessions will be available at all three fields. Darga Brothers Excavating and Friends will be doing burgers, brats and hot dogs at The Hole with the proceeds going to the St. Ignatius Catholic School and the Presque Isle Panthers. Concessions at the Little League field will be by Rogers City Area Little League, which will use funds raised to support the program. The Kiwanis Club of Rogers City will run concessions at Gilpin with their fish shack using proceeds to support community events. On Saturday at 2 p.m. until sold out, a pig roast by Alvin Romel will be finished and pulled pork sandwiches will be available at the Kiwanis Fish Shack for a free will offering with proceeds going to the Panthers program.
Many sponsors have come together to make the first annual PIGS tournament a success. In addition to the sponsors many volunteers have stepped forward to help with field preparations and clean up of the areas as well as many other odd jobs that go along with running a softball tournament of this size with this many games. Onaway Custom Embroidery will be at Gilpin for the weekend selling T-shirts for the event. Shirts will be made to order and printed on demand for the weekend depending on the size and color shirt the purchaser would like to have.
?Our goal in running this tournament is to try to make this the most fun weekend of the summer for these teams. The summer season is almost over and we want to get these teams up here and show them a good time. The community can help us with that goal. The host cities of these softball tournaments benefit from the business and if we are successful we hope to continue running a tournament in the future. The teams attending this year will be more likely to return if they enjoy themselves and are met with a friendly face when they get here,? said Panthers manager Mike Tulgestke.
The Panthers were formed in February of 2008 by a group of parents and softball fans to bring awareness to the quality of young talented softball players in the county. The idea behind the project was to give college scouts and coaches the opportunity to witness the abilities of the young athletes in the county that they don?t normally get to see in the course of a high school season.
Without a doubt the Panthers program has been a success as more and more young ladies are getting the opportunity to play college ball. With 12 teams playing in a tournament running three days of the weekend there is sure to be some extra people in town, which should benefit the community as a whole. THE SCHEDULE for the weekend is as follows: FRIDAY 5:15 P.M. ? Gilpin ? Alpena Thundercats vs. Macomb Vipers (18U), Little League field ? Presque Isle Panthers vs. USA (18U). FRIDAY 7 P.M. ? Gilpin ? Richmond Blues vs. Shepard Lady Jays (16U), The Hole ? Carmeuse Lime & Stone vs. USA (16U), Little League field ? Moran Iron Works Vulcans vs. South Farmington Wildcards (16U) FRIDAY 9 P.M. ? The Hole ? Hartland Heat vs. Midland Line Drive Express
SATURDAY 10 A.M. ? Gilpin ? Hartland Heat vs. Presque Isle Panthers (18U), The Hole ? Line Drive Express vs. Alpena Thundercats (18U), Little League field ? Macomb Vipers vs. USA (18U) SATURDAY 11:45 A.M. ? Gilpin ? Shepard Lady Jays vs. Carmeuse Lime & Stone (16U), The Hole ? Moran Iron Works Vulcans vs. Richmond Blues (16U), Little League ? South Farmington vs. USA (16U). SATURDAY 1:30 P.M. ? Gilpin ? Macomb Vipers vs. Line Drive Express (18U), The Hole ? Hartland Heat vs. USA (18U), Little League ? Presque
SUNDAY 8:30 A.M. ? Bracket play: 16U at the Little League field and Gilpin, 18U at the Hole. SUNDAY 10:15 A.M. ? Bracket play: 16U at Little League field and the Hole, 18U at Gilpin. SUNDAY NOON ? Bracket Play: 18 U at the Hole and Gilpin SUNDAY 1:45 P.M. ? 16U finals at Gilpin SUNDAY 3:30 P.M. ? 18U finals at Gilpin