— Every summer in the middle of July, Jefferson becomes the mecca of softball in Northeast Ohio as thousands descend upon on the village for the Ohio Jaguars Summer Showcase.

The latest installment of the event will feature more than 50 teams from about a 200-mile radius and will take place July 13-15.

“Teams will be coming from as far as three hours away,” tournament director Scott “Cliff” Francis said. “They’re coming from Columbus, the west side of Cleveland, there are quite a few from Pennsylvania – Pittsburgh and Clarion. They’ll all come from Ohio and Pa. from up to three hours away.”

There are 54 teams slated for battle in four age groups with games being played at the JAGS Complex, Havens Complex and a site to be determined.

“With the number of teams we’ve gotten in the last week, we’ve got to find another site,” Francis said. “Which is probably what I’ll be doing (this weekend).

“It’s a good problem to have. With the tournament getting bigger and bigger every year, this is something we will have to plan for in advance. There are places around here that we will have to use their fields. We’ve outgrown Jefferson and will have to start to rely on the neighboring towns to help with this event.”

There are 10 teams signed up in the 12-and-under division and 11 in the 14u division. The 16U and 18U divisions each have 17 teams signed up. There is no 10U division this year, as there has been in years past.

“We’re not doing a 10U this year,” Francis said. “We just didn’t get enough teams to sign up. But that’s OK because we’re really stretching it right now with the number of games we can have with the number of fields we have.

“The past few years, we’ve been getting bigger and bigger. The only year we were bigger (than the number of teams this year) was when we had 60 in our first year.”

Having a combined 34 teams in the 16U and 18U age groups is a sign of the way travel teams are forced to do business in the summer.

“We used to bill the tournament as a showcase (for college coaches),”  Francis said. “But I have no idea why (we have more teams in the older divisions). Every year, this is the time of year the younger groups are finishing up because the 10U, 12U and 14U teams start playing their tournaments in April. The older groups, because of high school seasons, can’t start playing until June.”

Part of the reason the showcase continues to grow is that once a team enters the event, it ends up making the Showcase a regular event on its schedule. Other teams learn about it and make the sojourn to Jefferson and end up coming back year after year.

“There are other ASA tournaments,” Francis said. “We see a lot of the same teams coming back year after year. The Willoughby Starzz, Ohio Hurricanes, Erie Frost and Valley Extreme all have tournaments that we go to. They come here. We take care of them when they do and they do the same when we go to theirs.”

The Showcase is an opportunity for local fans to get their softball fix at a time when many of the areas players are plying their craft on diamonds nowhere close to Ashtabula County.

“It’s a chance to see some of the best players in Ohio and Pa.,” Francis said. “The local teams don’t really get a chance to play close to home. This is the one weekend they are at home. It’s nice for people to be able to come out and see the better players in our area.”

Fans wanting to catch the action will be charged $5 admission per car load of people. The fee covers entry for all three days of action and does not come with a limit as to how many people can pile into a car.

Umpiring for the event is provided by Cal Cavalcante and his ASA crew from Trumbull County and is considered among the best in the entire country.

“All of the teams that come in appreciate good umps,” Francis said. “We get very, very few complaints. When you look at the list of accomplishments of those guys and the associations they belong to, it’s a very accomplished set of umpires. Cal has a set of guys and gals who respect him and each other and who work well together. They help each other out. That makes the tournament run easier.”

Francis runs the tournament with the help of the Ohio Jaguars’ parents and many volunteers from the area.

“The number of volunteers is incredible,” Francis said. “Without them, we couldn’t get this done. All of them are from each of our Jaguars teams and they help with a lot of their time and effort.”

Ettinger is a freelance writer from Ashtabula.

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