AMERICAN LEGION TOURNEY DIRECTOR IMPRESSED WITH PB

By Blake Drehle/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF

Thursday marked the first time Portland, Ore., resident Tim Cooksey ever visited Pine Bluff. And the Mid-South American Legion Regional tournament director is excited to come back.

"Everything I've seen in the last 24 hours and the dedication to the youth is right in line with our convenience," said Cooksey, who highlighted a press conference on Friday at the Pine Bluff Convention Center about the Mid-South Regional tournament scheduled to be played in August.

"We are really, really pleased that the community of Pine Bluff has stepped up and are willing to host this tournament.

"We realize, and I'm sure you do, too, that the production in tournaments requires a lot of work. So we sincerely, sincerely appreciate everyone's help," he said.

One of Cooksey's first orders of business when he arrived was to see the host site.

"Taylor Field was in the best shape of any ballfield I've seen in March," Cooksey said, when he visited the ballpark on Thursday during the Pine Bluff High and Bryant baseball game. "The teams playing in this tournament will be very fortunate. This is the finest playing facility I've seen."

And Cooksey knows a thing or two about American Legion tournaments. This will be the fourth consecutive tournament he will oversee as director.

The tournament will run from Aug. 11-15.

State American Legion champions from Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Nebraska and a host team sponsored by Simmons First National Bank will round out the double-elmination tournament.

"This is the first tournament of this magnitude to come to our area," said 3rd Ward Alderman Bill Brumett. "Our town has a great baseball history."

"With youth baseball and softball, we've hosted several World Series. Seven state champions will be coming by bus or airplane to play here," he said.

Brumett predicted 2,000-3,000 visitors will travel to Pine Bluff for the games. He also estimated that the city would see an economic impact of roughly "half a million dollars."

The last time a Legion regional tournament was played in Arkansas was in 1999 at Jacksonville.

"We try to rotate opportunities for states to have regionals," Cooksey said. "Many states, however, are not interested or don't show the support like Pine Bluff did."

Still, one may question why the American Legion sent Cooksey all the way from Oregon to here. Easy answer.

"Years ago, (the American Legion) would allow their own state commissioner to run regional tournaments," Cooksey said. "For whatever reasons, conflicted interest or whatever, probably 10 years ago they took the position to move tournament directors around. They wanted to make sure directors didn't play favorites."

The winner of the tournament will advance to American Legion World Series, which will run Aug. 19-23 at Rapid City, S.D.

The American Legion has sponsored the largest nationwide baseball program in America since 1925.

The goals of American Legion baseball are the development of team discipline, individual character and leadership development qualities in young people.