Weather aside, the third Cliburn Classic at Bazinsky Field was deemed another success.

Hinds Community College coach Sam Temple, the tournament’s host, is already thinking about next season’s event which brings in junior college baseball teams from out of state to play the Eagles and other Mississippi squads. This year’s field included nationally ranked power LSU-Eunice and schools from Texas, Louisiana and Illinois.

“We could’ve had better weather but in March you never know what you’re going to have,” Temple said Sunday as the four-day Classic wrapped up under sunny skies and much warmer temperatures than the teams played in Friday and Saturday.

Friday’s game between LSU-Eunice and Kishwaukee, Ill., was played in drizzle, sleet and snow. Two other games scheduled on that day, including both of Hinds’ contests, were cancelled. Hinds came back to play twice on Saturday. They beat Panola 8-3 on a sunny but cool afternoon. They then lost to Kishwaukee 5-1 in frigid conditions Saturday night.

“Saturday night was the worst cold we’ve played in,” Temple said. “Plus, Kishwaukee had their No. 1 going. But it’s hard to get those aluminum bats going in 28-degree weather.”

Crowds were sparse for the first two days and then picked up when the Eagles (7-8) played on Saturday. A decent crowd saw Sunday’s games between Panola, Southwest Mississippi, Mississippi Delta and Kishwaukee.

One solution to increase crowds would be for the host Hinds, which this season has five starters from Warren County in its lineup, to play every day. Temple said that would cause a problem with his team’s season schedule.

“It’s hard for us to play four days in a row because the state (association) only gives us 25 play dates to play 50 games. We pretty much have to play a doubleheader on each of our days,” Temple said.

LSU-Eunice and Panola gave Temple good compliments on the Classic.

“They saw a lot of positive thingss. The Rainbow Casino stepped up and took care of both teams and Kishwaukee. I also want to thank David McHan of the Vicksburg Baseball Association. They provided us umpires and fed the teams after each game. Their contribution makes this a first class tournament,” Temple said.

The former Warren Central coach said he will start making plans for next year’s event by September.

“We may have some new wrinkles for the next one. I get started on it in September and I’ve already been contacted by a couple of other teams. I just hope we can get the players from the VBA to come out to watch us. Callaway stayed after their game with Vicksburg to watch us and Panola and saw some good baseball. Where else are you going to see college level baseball being played around here other than in this tournament?” Temple said.