Baseball tournament will draw thousands to area

Nearly 1,000 youth baseball players will descend on Mountain Home this weekend to take part in the Mountain Home Invitational, a major tournament involving all-star baseball teams from throughout southern Idaho.

Including the players themselves, representing 50-60 teams, about 2,000 or more family members and friends also visit the community during the three-day tournament that begins Friday and concludes Sunday at the baseball diamonds in Eastside Park and adjacent to the high school.

"It has a pretty good economic impact on the community," said Dave Swenson, a spokesperson for the local youth baseball program that sponsors the event. "Usually, the area's hotel rooms are booked solid, but it's even tighter this year, with the some people trying to attend the soccer tournament in Boise overflowing here because everything there is filled up."

Tournament activities begin at 8 a.m. Friday and Saturday, with the last games each day usually starting at about 6 p.m.

The championship games in each of the five age divisions are expected to begin some time around 2 p.m. Sunday.

Unlike many area baseball tournaments, there is no charge to attend any of the Mountain Home Invitational's games. Entry fees paid by the teams pay for the costs of the tournament, largely for umpires.

Although the exact schedule and brackets were not immediately available, usually the Mountain Home teams play in the first games on Friday and Saturday.

The tournament involves teams for 9- to 10-year-olds, 11-year-olds, 12-year-olds, 13-year-olds, and senior league players ages 14-16.