July 24, 2019
LUMBERTON — The city of Lumberton steps back into the batter’s box this week to play host to another Dixie Youth national tournament that is expected to provide another economic boost to the area.
After hosting the Dixie Youth World Series for the first time a year ago, the Lumberton Youth Baseball Association was awarded a bid in March to host the inaugural Dixie Youth Division II World Series. This tournament is comparable to the 2018 event, but is intended for smaller leagues with 10 or fewer baseball teams, and it brings a total of 26 teams to the area. In 2018, 60 teams made the trek from across the Southeast to Lumberton for two weeks of tournament play.
The Division II World Series will take place at the Ray Pennington Athletic Complex starting Thursday for the AAA, Majors and “O” Zone divisions, which are made up of youths ages 9 to 12.
“They told us in person they were so impressed with Lumberton and the LYBA and what we did last year,” said Bruce Mullis, LYBA treasurer.
When it came to planning for an event of this size, the LYBA has used the same blueprint as last year, he said. The scaled-down number of teams makes the event less hectic to prepare for, but the standards that were set last year are still the benchmark tournament organizers are expecting.
Mullis said a high bar was established last year.
“Honestly, I don’t think there (are) major differences to expect,” Mullis said. “They are going to expect a high-quality product because if they were here last year, that’s what they saw. The Dixie people are going to expect another high-quality product.”
Along with the top youth baseball talent from Virginia to Texas coming to the area, visitors are expected to fill up hotels, dine at local restaurants and perhaps do some shopping.
“This is not as large as the World Series we had last year, but I can’t recall anything that has brought in this many or this much to the area as these tournaments,” Lumberton Tourism Authority President Arnold West said. “I know that most of the hotels at exits 20 and 22 are filling up now and teams are going to start arriving by Thursday.”
West owns two restaurants on one Lumberton’s main traffic corridors. He said that last year his establishments benefited from the throngs of people in town for the World Series.
He also commended the LYBA for bringing back another World Series.
“Lumberton has never had a better opportunity to showcase the ability to host an event like this, and the LYBA crowd did a professional job in bringing tourists in for this tournament,” West said. “This is a fantastic opportunity to boost the economy because we have great restaurants, good food and adequate accommodations to host a tournament like this.”
This year’s tournament will allow more time in the afternoon for visitors to browse the city, with games scheduled to run from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. most days.
“We want to see people go out and shop,” Mullis said. “We’re going to start our games in the morning and by 4:30 to 5 o’clock we should be done, barring any kind of weather delays. That gives all of our visitors all afternoon and evening to shop, to visit and do other things in town.”
In preparation for the tournament, for the second year in a row, the Lumberton Area Chamber of Commerce again made welcome bags that will be delivered to the hotels in which out-of-state teams will be staying. The bags are filled with gifts and coupons from local businesses.
Mullis said he looks for the hospitality shown last year to be repeated for the Division II World Series.
“There was so much bragging from all the visitors about the hospitality of all the folks at the hotels, the restaurants, at the malls and the convenience stores,” Mullis said. “It was just people in general thanking people for being in Lumberton. Hopefully, our community will step up and people will recognize that again.”
Last year’s tournament featured a host team from Lumberton in each age division, but because of the number of teams in the LYBA, no teams were eligible for the tournament. However, this year Red Springs will field host teams in the AAA and Majors divisions, with Mount Pleasant serving as the host team in the “O” Zone division. There also will be a North Carolina state champion in each of the three other tournaments.
Last-minute preparations were being made Wednesday to the fields at the Pennington Athletic Complex by city workers, along with LYBA President Tim Locklear.
“We’re just trying to get the fields ready with a last-minute touch-up,” Locklear said. “This year it’s a little easier and not as stressful, but you still have a number of things you have to check off the list.”
The fields will see their first action on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. with the skills competition, which will be before the opening ceremony at Lumberton High School’s Alton Brooks Stadium at 7:30 p.m.
Mullis
West
Jonathan Bym | The Robesonian Sonny Britt, a worker for the Lumberton Recreation Department, paints one of the foul lines on a field at the Ray Pennington Athletic Complex on Wednesday. The complex will host a second Dixie Youth World Series in two years starting on Thursday.
Scott Bigelow | The Robesonian Lumberton Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Cindy Kern, center, and members of Boy Scout Troop 301 fill welcome bags for visitors staying in area hotels for the Dixie Youth Division II World Series.
Lumberton gets another swing at World Series
