Batter up! The Annual Mississippi Gulf Coast Softball Classic.

Just ahead of baseball season, the 2016 annual Mississippi Gulf Coast Softball Classic takes the field tomorrow, expecting to generate large crowds and hefty revenue. Eleven college teams from five different states, along with 35 high school teams, will load the bases at the Gulfport Sportsplex. For the next three days you can watch Mississippi State University, Baylor, USM, and some of our high school teams Harrison Central and St. Martin just to name a few. With more than 600 hotel rooms booked for the weekend, games are predicted to make a big economic impact on the coast as well.

“Anytime you can get people coming in from out of town spending the night for a few nights and going out to the restaurants and going into the retail establishments, it’s always a good thing so we’re very happy to kind of get our season started here, says David D’Aquilla, of the Department of Leisure Services. “This kicks off our spring season. We have another hundred baseball teams coming in next weekend so we’ll play this weekend and we’ll turn it around next weekend and get ready for baseball.”

Tickets are $10 a day or $20 for a three day weekend pass. The fun starts at 10 am tomorrow. For a full game schedule and more information you can visit gulfcoastsoftballclassic.com.