Two local baseball teams participate in Grand Slam baseball tournament this week
by: Courtney Mims
Posted: / Updated:
PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (WMBB) – The Grand Slam World Series of Baseball began it’s first tournament of the summer on Monday morning. Around 40 teams are competing in the first week and two of those from Bay County.
“The thing is these local teams in Panama City Beach have it made,” Owner of Grand Slam Tournaments Larry Thompson Jr. said. “They’re not like a lot of other teams that have to travel all the time to different places to get a quality event in. They have events right here in their backyard at a first class facility and that is huge for these local teams.”
The Bay County Bandits are a 13U team that’s competing this week. The Bandits won their first game against the Gainesville Gladiators 17-1, but lost their second 15-2 to 5 Star National Haynes.
Their players all said they love playing out on the fields at the new sports complex.
“I like playing on these fields because you get the nice bounces, there’s no rocks to hit it, it comes fast. You get good hits on this field that’s all I can say,” Bay County Bandits baseball player Alexander Conjar said.
The Bay County Cubs, a 12U team, are the other local team in the mix this first week. The Cubs started off strong Monday, winning both their games. They beat DC Baseball 8-3 and then the Sand Gnats 16-1. The Cubs are at the top of the 12U bracket as of Monday night.
Even though this tournament has teams from all over the Southeast, these two local teams are ones to watch out for.
“There’s a lot of talent locally. All these local teams every year hold their own and do quite well. So that’s something I always smile about too,” Thompson said.
Their opponents also know they are the ones to beat.
“They are trying to beat us cause it’s our hometown,” Bay County Cubs baseball player Talan Moore said.
These local guys are aiming to defend their “home turf,” but also have some fun while doing it.
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