Choccolocco Park

"Just Gene"

A BUSY PLACE IN MAY

BY DENNY BAILEY

Choccolocco Park has been a busy place so far this spring. There were the usual activities, which include 5K runs, walkers on the 3-plus mile walking track, and bicycle riders renting bikes through our BikeShare program. Throw in a smattering of youth baseball and softball tournaments, club soccer tournaments, and track meets, and you have a typical opening of the outdoor season at the park, but May added two collegiate conference tournaments and a high school regional tournament, giving the park a very busy beginning to the month. Billy Thompson, Assistant Director at Choccolocco Park, kept a tally of the cars entering the park, and for these three tournaments alone, over 2700 vehicles were added to the usual traffic for the nine days the championships were held.

The first of these tournaments was the Gulf South Conference Baseball Tournament, which ran from Friday, May 3 through Tuesday, May 7 at the Signature Baseball Field. The GSC, which stretches from East Tennessee to Central Florida, with member schools also representing the states of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina, all seemed to enjoy our beautiful park and city. The tournament winner was the Delta State Statesmen from Cleveland, Mississippi.

The Ohio Valley Conference Softball Tournament began the next day at the Signature Softball Field, running from Wednesday, May 8 through Saturday, May 11. The OVC stretches from Illinois to Alabama, with member schools also in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri. Although Choccolocco Park is farther south than any conference member school, the OVC has

played its conference softball tournament at the park for the past four years and has also hosted baseball and track championships there in recent years. Southeast Missouri defeated three-time defending champion and local favorite Jacksonville State in back to back games to claim the 2019 title.

The Alabama High School Athletic Association held the East Central Regional Softball Championships at the park May 9 through May 11 with 56 high schools participating. The AHSAA tournament brought as many spectators as the collegiate tournaments combined. Winning high schools from each classification advanced to the state tournament at Lagoon Park in Montgomery.

It was an awesome nine days. Everything went smoothly, considering the number of cars that came through the park. It took a large number of Parks and Recreation Department workers to make the tournaments a success. All who worked made Oxford proud. I believe everyone left with a high view of Oxford.

— Jack Deal, Choccolocco Park Director