Eight baseball teams from five states will compete in this year’s Tarboro Easter Classic, which is set to begin Wednesday at Tarboro Municipal Stadium and finish with the championship game on Friday.

In addition to Tarboro and SouthWest Edgecombe, Bunn and Lawrence Academy make up the North Carolina contingent.

The out-of-state participants are Winslow Township (Atco, N.J.), Jefferson Forest (Forest, Va.), St. Maria Goretti (Hagerstown, Md.) and Padua Franciscan (Parma, Ohio).

“We always like to have four out-of-state teams and four from North Carolina when we schedule the tournament,” Tarboro coach Justin Smith said. “It gives you a good mix. We’re expecting four really good baseball games each day.”

Every team plays its first round game today, starting with Padua and Bunn at 11 a.m.

The Cougars play Winslow Township at 4 p.m., and Tarboro opens last, playing St. Maria Goretti at 7 p.m.

All participants are
guaranteed three games, but the winner’s bracket is single elimination, culminating with the title game at 7 p.m. Friday.

For adults, tickets are $7 per day, and a three-day pass is $18. The rate drops to $5 for single-day tickets for school-age children and $12 for a three-day pass.

“It’s usually a good atmosphere, and fans get to see a lot of good baseball,” Smith said.

Smith said the Vikings are aiming to win their own tournament, which they have two out of the past three years.

Even though the tournament means little to the prospects of winning a state or conference title, Smith said there is still a lot of meaning for the
Vikings.

“We always want to win something that we’re hosting,” Smith said. “More than anything, we just want to be consistent. We know who we are at this point, and we want to play well against good competition.”

Nick Piotrowicz can be reached at 407-9952 or at npiotrowicz@
rmtelegram.com