RESERVE – The Little League Baseball 7- and 8-year-old Pitching Machine State Tournament will begin Friday at Regala Park in St. John the Baptist Parish.

The tournament consists of 12 teams from across the state of Louisiana and will continue until the state championship game to be played July 15.

The games begin Friday at 4 p.m. and resume Saturday at 9 a.m., with competition running until 7 p.m. The tournament will continue from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. again on Sunday, with the final championship game Monday from 6-8 p.m.

Fields 1, 2 and 3 will be used for the tournament.

Each of the six little league districts will send their district champion and runner up to the tournament. The 12-team tournament is the largest little league baseball tournament held in the state.

South Lake Charles’ little league team is the defending state champion.

“We are very excited to have the opportunity to host this prestigious state tournament in St. John Parish,” said St. John Little League Baseball President Gary Disotell.

“This is the first time that our little league district has hosted this tournament, and anytime you can get teams from Alexandria, Shreveport, Lake Charles and the Monroe area to come and compete with local teams from St. John and the Baton Rouge area, you are going to have a great tournament,” Disotell said.

He said the event will be positive for the parish and would not have been possible without the support that the little league has received from Parish President Nickie Monica and the Parish Recreation Director Errol Manuel.

“I would also like to thank the HEAT Baseball Organization for their willingness to work with little league this year as far as scheduling practices and games. HEAT played baseball at Regala for several years, yet they were very willing to work with us and make this year go well and allow us to host this state tournament,” added Disotell.