Evanston Baseball and Softball Association (EBSA) has organized a baseball tournament in Evanston for 9-13-year-old players from throughout the Chicago-land area. EBSA hopes this will be an annual event.
The Stars and Stripes Tournament will be held at James Park July 6-8 and will include 40 travel baseball teams from as near as Chicago and as far away as Libertyville. The tournament is being organized with assistance from The Strike Zone, a baseball and softball academy located in Glenview. EBSA’s travel teams, the Orange Cats, will have four teams participating in the tournament as well.
Judging from similar tournament held in other towns, EBSA expects approximately 500, players. With their coaches, parents and families, potentially more than 2,000 people could attend the three-day tournament.
The tournament will have five divisions, one for each age group from nine to 13 years of age. It will include approximately 135 games over the three days with the semi-finals and championship games for each division being held on July 8.
“We have a lot of experience organizing tournaments of this size and we are pleased to partner with EBSA for this annual event,” said John Fix, The Strike Zone President.
EBSA has been operating in Evanston for over 60 years and is the largest non-profit youth sports organization in Evanston. It is run entirely by volunteers. Each year EBSA serves over 1,400 boys and girls aged 5-14 in youth baseball and softball programs.