The City of Dunkirk is sure to hit a figurative home run this weekend when 58 girls fastpitch softball teams take the fields in Dunkirk, Fredonia and Silver Creek. The three fields of the Dunkirk Little League Complex along with Prommenschenkel Stadium, and School 7 Softball Field will host the lion’s share of the games, with additional contests being decided throughout the area at Koch’s Field in Dunkirk and Silver Creek High School’s, SUNY Fredonia and the Fredonia Little League complexes.
Teams from all over New York and Pennsylvania will battle it out for the tournament championships in four divisions over the course of the weekend as the city plays host to families from Syracuse to Binghamton to Rochester to northwestern Pennsylvania and everywhere in between.
“This is an amazing event for the City of Dunkirk and now the entire area,” Dunkirk Mayor Kate Wdowiaz said. “Last year Wright Park was packed during the tournament and this year’s event has expanded to include the wonderful facilities in Point Gratiot as well. I’m excited for the opportunity for us to show off all the great amenities and businesses within the City of Dunkirk for literally thousands of visitors.
“I’m hoping in addition to the out of town guests some local residents will come on down and join me as we support the girls competing throughout the weekend,” Wdowiaz continued. “The parks look amazing, city staff have done a fantastic job and I can’t wait to welcome our guests.”
Tournament organizer Kory Ahlstrom commented, “Once again the response and demand for this event has been beyond our wildest dreams. In year one, we sold out a 16-team field in one division. This year we have expanded our maximum capacity three times and will welcome 58 teams over four age groups and still have a waiting list of teams who wanted to play. We currently have over 700 girls rostered to play in this event. It’s amazing! The feedback we have gotten from the other teams is that they are excited to come to Dunkirk and spend the weekend on the lake shore playing softball. We are excited and it should be fun The support from the community has been tremendous, and I need to offer my sincere thanks to Dunkirk Little League, the City of Dunkirk and Dunkirk City School District, SUNY Fredonia, Silver Creek Central Schools and the Fredonia Little League for seeing the value this event provides to the community and for their partnership and hospitality. All these organizations truly have stepped forward for the youth of the community for this event.”
In addition to softball, the tournament will feature full concessions and custom waterfront-themed tournament logo apparel being produced and sold at the Little League Complex on Saturday and Sunday. Also, the students of the Dunkirk High School softball and football programs will be conducting fundraisers to support their programs.
The tournament begins at 6:30 p.m. today with a distinctive local flair as the 10U Fredonia Fury team will take on the Lake Shore Storm at Dunkirk Little League Ed Wisniewski Field followed by the host 12U Chadwick Bay softball team taking on the Mel Ott Hurricanes under the lights at 8 p.m. While at the stadium, the Amherst Lightning 14U , which is composed almost exclusively of young ladies from Southern Chautauqua County and the Jamestown area, will take on the Arcade Lady Cardinals at 6:30 p.m. while the Chadwick Bay Softball 14U team will take on the West Seneca Magic.
On Friday, the tournament is running in full swing with 6:30 p.m. games being conducted on10 fields throughout the area. Some Friday highlights are a 5 p.m. contest at Fredonia Little League between the 12U Fredonia Fury and the Hamburg Dawgs. The stadium doubleheader begins at 6:30 p.m. with the Chadwick Bay 14U girls playing Edge Softball from Batavia, followed by the Chadwick Bay 16U team taking on the Lou Gehrig Lasers.
Games resume at 8:20 a.m. Saturday and continue all day with the final games beginning at 6:20 p.m. Sunday will find the 58 teams divided into two brackets at each age level for championship play beginning at 8:30 a.m. with the finals expected to begin at approximately 3 p.m. Over the course of the weekend, 130 games will be decided on fields across the area.
For those seeking to support the local girls, their schedules are as follows:
Chadwick Bay 16U: Friday 8:10 p.m. Stadium; Saturday 3 p.m. Stadium; Saturday 6:20 p.m. Stadium
Chadwick Bay 14U: Thursday 8:10 p.m Stadium; Friday 6:30 p.m. Stadium; Saturday 11:40 a.m. Stadium
Chadwick Bay 12U: Thursday 8:10 p.m. Dunkirk Little League; Saturday 9:55 a.m. Dunkirk Little League; Saturday 11:35 a.m. Dunkirk Little League
Dunkirk 10U All Stars: Friday 6:30 p.m. Dunkirk Little League; Saturday 8:20 a.m. Dunkirk Little League; Saturday 11:40 a.m. Dunkirk LL
Fredonia Fury 10U: Thursday 6:30 p.m. Dunkirk Little League; Friday 6:30 p.m. Dunkirk Little League; Saturday 3 p.m. Dunkirk Little League
Fredonia Fury 12U: Friday 5 p.m. Fredonia Little League; Saturday 8:20 a.m. Dunkirk Little League; Saturday 1:20 p.m. Fredonia Little League