EASLEY — The date is fast approaching for opening day of the Big League World Series and crews are hard at work preparing the J.B. Red Owens Sports complex for the thousands of fans who will be heading to Easley early next week.
New fencing around the main ball fields was being put up Monday morning and landscaping crews could be seen around the complex trimming hedges, hosing the bleachers and checking stadium lights.
“I jog here pretty much every morning and there’s always guys here working on stuff,” said Cathy Blight of Easley. “I think they’ve done a great job. Look how green everything is. That couldn’t have been easy seeing that until recently we’ve had like no rain.”
“Little League is a volunteer organization,” said John Humphrey, BLWS tournament director. “That means everyone you’ll be seeing at the tournament July 26 through August 2 will all be volunteers there. We’re all excited, we’re getting everything ready and the city of Easley been getting the park ready.”
Game 1 will start the series with the West vs. the East. The opening pitch is at 12:30 p.m. Game 2 at 4 p.m. pits Latin America against Canada and Game 3 starts at 7:30 p.m. with the Southwest taking on the home team — SC District 1.
“It’s (Red Owens) a great place to watch a game, it’s a great complex and the city has been behind the program ever since the beginning,” said Humphrey. “There’s a lot of families that come into town, and they’ll come in from all over the world. This is a great thing for Easley and a great thing for the community.”
The 17-player roster for South Carolina District I includes players from Pickens, Anderson and Oconee counties, six of whom were members of last year’s team.
Easley High School placed seven players on the team, while T.L. Hanna, Westside, Seneca and Powdersville high schools each placed two players on the team and Walhalla had one representative as did Anderson University.
The BLWS is being held at the J.B. “Red” Owens Recreation Complex from July 26 through Aug. 2. The championship game will be televised live on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 2.
Tickets are available at the gate or you can grab them in advance online at a discounted rate. Visit www.bigleagueworldseries.com for more information or to buy tickets.
