JOHN DAY — After weeks of preparation, the Seventh Street Sports Complex is just about ready to welcome around 45 baseball and softball teams to John Day for the 2024 District 3 Little League softball and baseball all-star tournament from June 26 to July 4.

The community can expect to see an influx of 2,000 to 2,500 people into the John Day area over the course of the nine-day event. 2024 marks the first time the tournament has been held in Grant County in over 20 years.

Grant County is well represented in the baseball competition, with an 8/9/10-year-old team and a 10/11/12-year-old team. The county also has strong softball representation with a 9/10/11-year-old team and a 10/11/12-year-old team.

Teams from Pendleton, Hermiston, Wallowa and Union County will also be among those competing for the District 3 crown.

Winners of this tournament will head to higher competition at the state level.

Grant County Little League was required to make a number of facility improvements before the tournament got underway, including the installation of a new scoreboard, dugout repairs, roofing and painting, fencing, backstop repairs and infield modifications. The organization has spent almost $30,000 so far in preparation for the tournament, and the site improvements aren’t done just yet.

Grant County Little League Board of Directors Chair Bob Cobb said improvements are 80% complete and will be finished on time. There is some painting that still needs to be done, a scoreboard to install and the end of an entire field to rebuild yet, according to Cobb.

Grant County was chosen to host the Little League tournament after a two-year effort by Cobb, who pitched the Seventh Street Sports Complex as a perfect site for the event.

“We have a great facility and wanted to show it off,” he said.

Rather than just being an endless array of baseball and softball fields, Cobb said, Seventh Street has a variety of amenities that make it a complete family package.

“We have the big trees, we take a lot of pride in our fields, we’ve got a fishing pond for the kids, just the whole surrounding area, splash pad, Frisbee golf, bike park right there — you look at all of it, it’s a good family area,” he said.

Cobb said he hopes hosting the all-star tournament at the Seventh Street Sports Complex will lead to more events being held there, with an emphasis on one day hosting a state championship game.

“We have a beautiful ballpark,” Cobb said. “We want to see games played here.”

The economic impact of the tournament on the county is substantial, according to Grant County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Tammy Bremner.

Bremner said most of the visiting players and their families will be staying in RVs rather than hotels and motels but will still spend money at local restaurants, grocery stores, gas stations and the like. Bremner said she expects attendees to spend $450,000 at a minimum during their stay in Grant County.

All star tournament sponsors

Field sponsors: Patriot Plumbing, Solutions CPAs, Hueckman Contracting, Les Schwab

Concessions sponsor: Chester’s Market

Tournament sponsor: Iron Triangle