36th annual Kelso Klassic slated for June 9-11

The Kelso Klassic fast-pitch softball tournament is once again returning for its 36th annual event.

The three-day event begins on Friday, June 9, and will conclude on Sunday, June 11.

Rick Heuring founded the tournament in 1985 and he said his vision was to just get the teams a chance to play more games.

“We had a lot of local teams at the time and we just wanted to play different competition,” Heuring said. “We had 16 teams in the first tournament. I wanted to see how many teams we could get to come to Kelso and I think we could have had 30 in the first year. I didn’t know if it would be a long-standing tournament, I was just taking it one year at a time.”

Heuring said the biggest change from the first tournament to this tournament has been the involvement of technology.

“Things used to be a lot harder to manage because it was before computers and cell phones,” Heuring said. “We had landline phones and mail to contact people back then.”

The Kelso Klassic is something that Heuring feels is bigger than a normal tournament.

“Everyone looks forward to coming to Kelso,” Heuring said. “Everyone tells me this is their favorite tournament of the year. They want to make sure they’re in this tournament before they do anything else.”

The Kelso Klassic Tournament Bracket.Submitted

So, what makes the tournament stand out from others? Heuring attributes the community and supporters.

“It’s the atmosphere mainly,” Heuring said. “A lot of tournaments don’t have the crowds that we do. People come out to watch and ball players like playing in front of crowds. You’re not going to see that anywhere else until you get to the world tournament or a national tournament.”

The 19U tournament that begins on Friday features eight teams. The Belleville (Ill.) Stallions, A.J. Masonry Sting (Wabash, IN), AWP Lumberjacks (Duquoin, IL), Honeybadgers (Saint Louis, MO), Kelso Fastpitch (Kelso, MO), T-Town Merchants (Teutopolis, IL) Tribe (St. Charles, MO) and the USA U19 National Team will battle it out for the championship.

Heuring said he is excited for everyone to get to see the USA National Team in action.

“I’m hoping people will come out and watch what they have to offer,” Heuring said. “All of these guys are under 19 and they’re representing the USA. I think it would be really neat if we had someone from Kelso do that.”

The first game of the tournament is between Kelso and Belleville and it will begin at 7 p.m. on Friday, June 9, at the Kelso Softball Fields. The championship game is scheduled for Sunday, June 11, at 3 p.m.