Beast of the East may be smaller, but is still going

Annual tournament throws first pitch on Thursday with 24 teams in its 34th year

WHEELING -- Back in its hey-days - especially the 1990s - the annual Edgar Martin Beast of the East Baseball Tournament was one of the biggest events of its kind. The four-day baseball-lovers-dream drew teams from Canada, as well as the midwest and up and down the East Coast.

Now, in its 34th year, the Beast has been tamed down a little due to a variety of reasons.

"First of all, there are so many tournaments now. We used to be the premiere tournament in the country," Bo McConnaughy, one of the original founders of the event along with B.A. Crawford, said. "Secondly, the lack of turf fields hurts, as well. People ask us why we don't have more turf fields because that's all a lot of kids play on now.

"However, the biggest reason we have a low number of entrants is because our internet server was hacked and we weren't aware of it," McConnaughy explained. "We found out it was compromised in late January when teams started calling us to see why we weren't having a tournament this year. It was telling them it was an unsecure site. I don't know how that happened.

"So, the teams that usually sign up in December and January weren't able to and that left us scrambling for teams. We ended up with 24 which is what we started with back in 1989 ... 24 teams and six fields. We usually get 10-15 Canadian teams, but we are down to just one this summer. That coach brought his team down in the spring and played John Marshall and Wheeling Central."

When the Beast was at its best it had 162 teams for 3-4 years in a row.

Despite the lack of entrants, the good news is that all of those Canadian teams are signed up for next year.

"I did not want to cancel the tournament because you never know if you'll be able to start it again," McConnaughy stressed. "A smaller tournament is better than no tournament."

The event has three 8-team divisions - 14-and-under, 16-and-under and 19-and-under. It will utilize six fields from around the Ohio Valley.

The 14-and-under tournament will be held at Patterson Field in Elm Grove and John Marshall High School in Glen Dale. It includes the following teams: Washington Wolverines, Contenders, JABC Tin Caps 14U, Central Ontario Reds 14U, Moundsville Post 3, Ohio Valley Jokers 13U, Shadyside and STM Baseball.

The 16-and-under tournament takes place at Vaccaro Field in Steubenville and Wheeling Park High School's all-turf Patriot Field. Its entrants are Wheeling Post 1 16U, Morgantown Post 2 Jr. Legion, Ohio Valley Mountaineers, Weirton Blue Bombers, Moundsville Post 3, Wellwood Maryland, Wheeling Wildthings 16U and Tri-County Elite.

The 19-and-under tournament will be played at Edison's Unified Sports Complex in Richmond and Wheeling University's diamond at the J.B. Chambers I-470 Youth Sports Complex in Elm Grove. Teams involved are Washington Rebels, Bruisers Baseball 18U, Armory Baseball, Impact BC Ohio, Wheeling Post 1, Jefferson County Post 33, Tyler Silverstars and Edison High School.

Only the Edison and Wheeling Park sites are turf.

Games will begin at 8 a.m. at some sites and continue at 10:30 a.m., 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Following three days of pool play, champions will be crowned on Sunday, with sites and times to be determined.