NORMAN — The third annual Heartland Baseball Classic is set to return to Norman and Moore on June 18-23. Baseball players from around the nation will converge on the area for the weekend-long tournament.
This year’s field includes high school all star teams representing Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, Georgia, Ohio, Maryland, Arkansas and Colorado. Colorado is new to the tournament this year, replacing Team Canada.
Team rosters are made up of all star high school players, most of whom have just graduated and will be playing in college next year.
Opening Ceremonies and a home run derby kick-off the Classic at 7 p.m. Monday at the Southmoore baseball field in Moore. A total of 32 games will be played from Tuesday through Saturday at Southmoore, Norman North and Norman High.
However, Heartland officials are having a difficult time finding host families for the visiting players to stay with during the tournament.
Host families take two or more players into their home and provide a place to stay, keep them fed and get them to their games each day.
“This has been a great experience for our family,” said Jud Foster, who serves as Vice President of the Heartland Board of Directors. “These kids are talented athletes with a bright future and it has been fun for our family to get to know them and then keep up with them as they move on with their baseball carrier. We heard yesterday that one of our players was just drafted by the Astros. We are so excited for him.”
For more information on becoming a host family, call Foster at 226-0015, Sherri Rogers at 570-1647 or Jim Dickerson at 615-3684.
