Lamesa preparing to host regional baseball tourney

IT'S A DONE DEAL City of Lamesa City Manager Fred Vera and Lamesa’s Cal Ripkin President Rick Wallace have teamed up with the Bill Weaver Foundation to bring the Cal Ripkin Regional Baseball Tournament to Lamesa beginning July 20. (Dwight Heins/Press-Reporter)

Despite being still three weeks away, the big 11- and 12-year-old Cal Ripken Regional Baseball Tournament  coming to the Bill Weaver Youth Complex here in July already is beginning to build excitement.

Why not? This very well could be one of the biggest athletic events held inside this city’s limits in quite some time – if ever. Lamesa has hosted its share of tournaments in the past, but not many if none with teams coming in from outside the Lone Star State’s border lines.

This regional event will bring in competition from New Mexico, Louisiana, Mississippi,  Arkansas and quite possibly even Oklahoma in addition to Texas, including the host city’s Lamesa sluggers.

“We probably never had anything this big here,” Lamesa Cal Ripken President Rick Wallace said. “This isn’t just about these kids, but also all of their parents and the fans.

“This should be really something else to see for the people here.”

That tournament will begin here on July 20 with a banquet where former Golden Tornado baseball standout Wes Shook will be that guest speaker that night.


(See complete story in printed edition of Lamesa Press-Reporter on newsstands now.)