Youth baseball players from around the world will gather for a tournament in Freeport in July, but organizers say the visitors need a place to stay.

The organizers of the annual Freeport International Baseball Invitational are searching for local families to host traveling players.

The families will be responsible for hosting two or three of the 14- or 15-year-old team members, providing transportation and meals, and taking part in some of the tournament activities.

The invitational is set to take place July 20 to 25. Families would be responsible for the players from July 19 to 26.

“We need two beds and your hospitality,” said Tina Ferringer, Freeport borough manager and an invitational organizer.

This year, Ferringer said, players from Japan, Australia and Canada could attend, along with American players from Louisiana, California and Ohio. Organizers are waiting on final confirmations.

Ferringer said hosting Australian players for the past two years has been an “incredible experience.”

She said she has made “lifelong friends” with the players’ families and has appreciated the cultural exchange with the Australians.

Aside from baseball, Ferringer said, the players have held picnics and gone to see races at Lernerville Speedway in nearby Buffalo Township.

“They are enamored by our small town,” she said.

Amanda Good also has hosted Australian players for the past two years and plans to do so again this year.

The teenage players, she said, have made friends with her own sons, and the families also stay in regular contact. They’ve even sent gifts back and forth.

“It’s a lot of baseball. It’s a lot of fun,” she said. “It’s just showing them how we live.”

Last year, Good said, her family spent time fishing with their guests and introduced them to the popular campfire treat of s’mores.

“It’s just the most rewarding experience for both us and them,” she said.

The tournament, which takes place in downtown Freeport and on other area baseball diamonds, has been running for more than three decades.

Those interested in hosting players can contact Amanda Good at 814-221-0322 or Tina Ferringer at 724-295-2251.

To host a player

Those interested in hosting players can contact Amanda Good at 814-221-0322 or Tina Ferringer at 724-295-2251.