37th annual Kelso Klassic begins Friday

Another rendition of the yearly tradition that is the Kelso Klassic begins this Friday, June 7 in Kelso.

The 37th annual event features six teams, with two of them coming from Kansas City, three from the St. Louis area to go with the host Kelso team.

“I always look forward to this tournament,” founder of the Kelso Klassic Rick Heuring said. “It’s a great time and it’s always a lot of fun for everybody.”

While most people may think organizing a tournament like this is easy, Heuring said it’s quite the opposite.

“This day and age there’s not a lot of teams that travel anymore,” Heuring said. “So, we have to look for teams that are available and also willing to make the trip.”

This year specifically has posed many challenges for Heuring when it comes to getting teams committed to play.

“We had four teams drop on us,” Heuring said. “Then, we had two other teams who cancelled on us who had paid the entry fee. That really put us in a hurt because we had eight teams which would have made for a nice bracket. There’s nothing we can do about it at this point.”

“I don’t know much longer we can make this happen if we can’t get the commitment from the teams,” Heuring said. “Everything has become more difficult every year.”

Despite the low number of teams, talent won’t be lacking this weekend.

“The teams will be competitive,” Heuring said. “We don’t have weak teams here. There’s going to be some good pitching in games. It just won’t be the number of games or teams that we are used to.”

Heuring said he hopes to see fans come out and enjoy the competitive games and take in the atmosphere.

“It’s just a great atmosphere,” Heuring said. “That’s what makes the tournament famous. It’s like a big tailgate party.”

The Kelso Klassic is set to begin at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, June 7, when the host Kelso team takes on the St. Charles Tribe at the Kelso Softball Fields.

The championship game is scheduled for Sunday, June 9, at 3 p.m.