Softball Tournament Economic Home run For Broken Arrow

By Dan Bewley, News On 6

BROKEN ARROW, Oklahoma -- Some of the country's best softball players are in Green Country this weekend.

The National Softball Association is holding its Class C Super World Series in Broken Arrow and the event is good news for the city and its economy.

Officially it's called the NSA Dudley Men's Super World Series for Class C. But you can think of it as a showcase for some of the best players the sport has to offer.

"We try to get after it...the skill level and competition is quite a bit higher," said Indiana resident Tim Anderson.

More than 30 teams are spending the weekend at the Indian Springs Sports Complex in Broken Arrow.

"I have teams from California, Oregon, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Florida, Missouri, and Indiana." Said Brad Gordon, Tournament Director:

The players say the tournament brings out the best in the sport...even the kids get a chance to work on the fundamentals.

"It's a good tournament, good tournament, it's going to be good competition," said Florida resident Ralph Pozo.

While the goal is the same as in your average church league, the skill level and intensity gets bumped up a notch.

"We take things a little more serious than church league or I assume we do. We take a little bit more BP and take things a little bit more seriously," said Indiana resident Jeremy Hochstetler.

As the scorekeeper tracks the runs, the city is busy tracking the money. Broken Arrow estimates the tournament will bring in close to $700,000 to its economy.

"It's a very big deal for Broken Arrow, we've never had an adult softball world series here," Gordon said.

If all goes well, organizers say, the tourney could be back next year, which is good news for Broken Arrow's bottom line and Oklahoma softball fans.

The tournament continues Saturday evening at Indian Springs with the last game scheduled to start at 10PM.

The championship round gets underway Sunday morning.