×

Weirton anxious for Beast of the East event

WEIRTON — The Beast is back. Question is, who will become the Beast?

The 29th-Annual Beast of the Tournament is scheduled to start early Thursday at baseball fields throughout the Ohio Valley.

One local Legion teams — Weirton Post 10 — will be taking part in the tournament, and games will be played at four local fields: Bowman Field in Weirton, Mazeroski Field inside Sally Buffalo Park in Cadiz, Brooke and Bethany.

“I’m very confident going into the Beast of the East Tournament,” Weirton (5-10) head coach Jason Swartzmiller said. “We had a young team last year, and we came together in the Beast of the East. This year, we have a more experienced team going into the tournament, and I think we will have a nice showing in the tournament.”

Post 10 enters the tournament coming off of a 16-1 loss to Toronto Post 86 in five innings Tuesday evening at home.

Weirton is scheduled to play two games Thursday, Friday and Saturday at home. Post 10 is scheduled to open up play in the tournament at 8 a.m. Thursday against Golden Spikes. Weirton is slated to play Team Ontario (18U) at 1 p.m.

“It is never fun to play at 8 a.m.,” Swartzmiller said. “I’m not going to use that as an excuse for us. Everybody has to do it. We want to come out bright and early and ready to play.”

Weirton is scheduled to play the Georgia Eagles at 1 p.m. Friday before taking on the Columbus Cobras (17U) at 3:30 p.m.

Weirton is slated to play Whitehouse Legion 384 at 10:30 a.m. Saturday before playing the Independent Players 2 at 3:30 p.m.

“We get to play a lot of baseball,” Swartzmiler said. “We will get to play constant baseball. We will be able to get into a groove. We haven’t been able to get into a groove this past week because of the weather. We are going to be able to play seven to nine games in four days.”

In the tournament, 19 games are scheduled at Bowman Field.

“It is great to be able to host games,” Swartzmiller said. “The teams we play get a chance to see what we can do. Different people get to see us play. We are able to get some exposure. Playing games here will help us off the field as well as on the field.”

The Cadiz American Legion team had been scheduled to participate in the tournament, but team officials have decided to withdraw. They cited a lack of available pitchers.

For information on the tournament, visit www.beastoftheeast.org.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.73/week.

Subscribe Today