High school baseball in the All-Kiski Valley is in its fourth week, while college teams have been knocking it out of the park for nearly two months.
The Pirates, despite their inauspicious start, are giving baseball fans something to talk about in the early season.
While those games are in the present, those connected to the Freeport International Baseball Invitational continue to gear up for a week’s worth of games in July in Freeport Borough and on fields in surrounding communities.
FIBI president Chuck Sarver on Monday said there is lots of activity going on to get ready for the 31st annual week of festivities set for July 21-26.
“After Christmas and when we get into the new year, that is when things really get kicked into high gear,” Sarver said. “Right now, people are starting to think about summer ball and are planning for that. There is a buzz around this year’s event. We had a fundraiser back in early March, a cornhole tournament, and we had a big turnout for that. Everyone is excited.”
The international feel of the International again will come from Australia.
Sarver said he’s excited to have the Aussie Drop Bears return to the tournament as part of their July trip to the U.S.
“This team is a little bit older than the one which came over last summer,” Sarver said. “The organization sends eight teams out of the country each year. Matt Cavill is bringing his team to the Freeport International.”
Cavill has an additional connection to U.S. baseball as his son, Blake, is a senior infielder on the Division I Troy University team.
Shane Dodd will be back to manage the Drop Bears, who played six games during last year’s invitational.
“It is awesome to have the team back this year,” Sarver said. “At the end of the week last year, the Australian team, some of the host families and others went to The Villa for dinner where Shane gave a speech and gave us a ball signed by all the players. He said then that he would report back to Matt about how they were thrilled with how everything went down and the competition.
“They all enjoyed the hospitality, the baseball atmosphere. It wasn’t a week or two later that I got a message from Matt saying that they will be back this year. We’re thrilled to have them back.”
Amanda and Nate Good are leading the charge in terms of housing for the Australian players, coaches and others traveling with the team.
Amanda Good said anyone who is interested in being a host family for one or more of the players can contact her via email at Kilburn_a84@hotmail.com.
Sarver said more than two dozen local and regional teams again are expected to be part of the Freeport International. The high school season ends the second week of June, and youth teams in the area begin their seasons in the next couple of weeks and play until late June or early July.
“We have two or three teams coming back from the Cleveland area,” he said. “A team from Murrysville has signed up as have teams from Hardball Academy in Pittsburgh. Highlands has a couple of teams coming. We get a good idea from the teams during the week of games about them wanting to come back. Then they talk to other people. We’re always having new teams and new organizations wanting to sign up. That is a good feeling.”
Along with the Highlands teams coming to the International, Sarver lauded the opportunity to use the renovated field at Highlands High School complete with a new all-weather turf surface.
“I am excited about Highlands because of the lights, and (high school coach) Jeff Campbell has committed to two teams,” Sarver said. “There was some initial concern because the Butler Blue Sox will be playing there, but they will be done July 7, and we have permission to use the field for at least five nights.”
Springdale and Armstrong high schools and Freeport Community Park again will join Highlands and the main hub at Freeport Borough’s James E. Swartz Memorial Field as game locations throughout the week.
Sarver said communication continues with field officials at Northmoreland Park about again playing games there.
Traditional events such as the Sonny Westerman Old Timers Game on Thursday, the John “Cossy” Costantino Annual 5K/10K race in Freeport Borough and the all-star game and fireworks on Saturday will return.
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A couple of games Monday will kick off a week of matchups featuring the local, regional and international teams.
“We always welcome volunteers for many things throughout the week.,” Sarver said.
For more information about this year’s Freeport International, visit Freeportinternationals.com or the organization’s pages on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).