A slew of tournament baseball is coming to Vicksburg in 2007 highlighted by the recent awarding of the Babe Ruth 16-year-olds’ Southwest Regional.

Vicksburg Parks and Recreation Director Joe Graves is already trying to get plans underway even though it’s the week before Christmas.

&#8220The Southwest Regional is the first major tournament we’re going to have. It’s going to be a real good event for the city,” Graves said of the Babe Ruth Regional that will bring in teams from Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

One of the moves Graves will have to make is an adjustment with the rec department’s two-year-old adult baseball league. All games of the Southwest Regional, which is set to start July 19 and last 10 days, will be played at Bazinsky Field.

Bazinsky Field is also the home of the adult baseball league, which last year featured nine teams. The league has typically started its season during the first week in July and finishes up in early August.

&#8220The adult baseball league is here to stay. We may look into starting it next season sometime in June and finish it before the regionals start at Bazinksy,” Graves said. &#8220Everything with the regional is going to be at Bazinksy. But we’re looking at making available some practice time for the teams at both Vicksburg and Warren Central.”

In the past, the Governor’s Cup has been the city’s signature summer tournament. The Cup is again set to run its two-weekend gamut beginning with the first weekend in August after the Southwest Regional.

In actuality, the city’s first statewide tournament will begin in March at Halls Ferry Park, Babe Ruth Regional director Marshall Upton said.

&#8220We’re going to host the state qualifier for USSSA in the 6-, 8-, 10-, 12- and 14-year-olds in mid-March and then at the end of March, we’ll have the 7-, 9-, 11- and 13-year-olds.

&#8220In June, we’ll host the 6-, 7- and 8-year-olds’ district tournaments for Cal Ripken and then at the end of June host the 10- and 12-year-olds’ USSSA State Tournament,” Upton said.

That’s not all.

&#8220The first of July, we don’t know yet what age group, but we will get a Cal Ripken State Tournament,” Upton said. &#8220Then on July 19, the state champions that are headed here for the regionals will be coming in.

&#8220This will be the most tournaments that’s ever been here in Vicksburg,” Upton added.