MORGANTOWN — Even though the Mountaineers are playing at Texas Tech, there will still be plenty of action at Kendrick Family Ballpark this weekend with the Mon County Classic.
Eight high school baseball teams will play 12 total games Friday and Saturday between the home of the Mountaineers at the Mon County Baseball Complex and Dale Miller Field at Mylan Park.
“The big thing with the Mon County Classic is to bring in some teams from out of the area that wouldn’t have the opportunity to play in Morgantown consistently,” Morgantown High head coach Pat Sherald said. “And we have the Dale Miller Field, which has now been completely resurfaced with turf, so we have an opportunity to showcase that as well.”
Participating teams are Morgantown, University, Wheeling Park, Musselman, Jefferson, Williamstown, Bridgeport and St. Maria Goretti Catholic (Md.)
The event, which is hosted by Morgantown High, has expanded to not only include games at Dale Miller this year but also to include softball.
Expanded to be called the Mon County Baseball and Softball Classic, seven high school softball teams will play 11 games at Lynch Field, ISS Field and FirstEnergy Field, all at Mylan Park.
“We wanted to bring in Mylan Park and have it be a little bit more of an amateur sports weekend,” Sherald said. “We’re evolving into that because we’ll have seven softball teams also coming into town and they have brand-new turf facilities, too.”
Participating softball teams are Morgantown, University, Oak Glen, Jefferson, Cabell Midland, Greenbrier East and Buckhannon-Upshur.
Spectators can purchase a daily pass for $10 or a weekend pass for $20 that will work for all games at every location. For children 6-16, a daily pass will be $5 with a $10 weekend pass. Morgantown High students and children under five will get in for free. Passes can be purchased with cash only at either Mylan Park or Kendrick Family Ballpark.
Baseball games at Dale Miller Field will begin Thursday at 4:30 p.m. with host Morgantown taking on Spring Mills. On Saturday, St. Maria Goretti will kick off the day against Bridgeport at 9 a.m.
Softball games will begin at 3 p.m. on Friday and at noon on Saturday, with games on all three fields.
Action at Kendrick Family Ballpark will begin at 4:30 p.m. on Friday with St. Maria Goretti against Wheeling Park. University will then play Musselman starting at 7 p.m.
“For a lot of them, it’s just an awesome experience to not only play in the home of the Mountaineers but also a minor league ballpark,” Sherald said. “What we’re trying to do is open it up to as many West Virginia teams as we can that maybe otherwise wouldn’t be able to do it, so their kids get to have that experience.”
There will be four games at Kendrick Family Ballpark on Saturday starting with Jefferson and Morgantown at 9 a.m. The next three contests will be Morgantown vs. Musselman, Jefferson vs. Bridgeport and Spring Mills vs. University at 4:30 p.m.
“The goal is kind of just to have an awesome spring sports weekend in Morgantown,” Sherald said.
Donations will be accepted at the Mon County Baseball Complex to help support baseball and softball in the area.
“We’re thankful to live in a community that supports baseball,” Sherald said. “Thank you to the Mon County Commissioners, Mylan Park and all of our tournament sponsors.”
TWEET @DomPostSports
