The annual Black Gold Softball Tournament returns to New Haven City Park this coming weekend on Saturday June 24 and Sunday June 25.   An annual men’s fastpitch tournament in the area dates back to the 1960s.  
 
The Black Gold team is comprised mainly of players originating from Hermann, New Haven, Union, and Washington.  Eric Steinbeck, Terry Coon, Cullen Speckhals, and Matt Benz are some of the long-time players, with recent area high school baseball standouts such as Jake Murphy, Jake Johnson, and Ben Held joining the team in recent years.
 
Teams from Kansas, Illinois, and all parts of Missouri will battle it out in a round-robin format with two pools on Saturday, then single elimination tournamentSaturday night and Sunday.   
 
Action starts at Saturday morning with two games.  On Lions Field at 10am, Black Gold takes on the Kelso Fastpitch, which recently finished 3rd in the 13 team Kelso Classic.  On Bock Field at 10:30am, the Pinckneyville, IL Falcons take on last year’s defending champion Boonville, MO Fastpitch.     The St. Charles Tribe, Bowen Fastpitch from Bowen, IL, and the Wizards of Oz from Silver Lake, Kansas also return to the Classic this year.
 
Black Gold plays at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Lions Field.   Single elimination games starting at 5pm Saturday night and resume on Sunday at 9 a.m.. The championship game starts at 1:30 p.m.
 
Black Gold finished 3rd in last year’s tournament.
 
For the third year in a row there will be a mens’ fastpitch softball reunion held at the pavilion near Lions Field starting at 2 p.m. Saturday.    Seventy former players from all over Missouri attended last year.    All former players and fans from the state of Missouri are invited.
 
“The Black Gold Classic is known for featuring good pitching and a very balanced field of teams,” said manager Eric Steinbeck.  “We look forward to seeing everyone out at the ballpark.”    
 
Full concession stand along with BBQ pork steaks, burgers, hot dogs, and the ever popular popsicles will be available both days.
 
For more information on the tournament contact Eric Steinbeck (314-640-6432) or Matt Benz (314-560-4839).   For more information on the reunion contact Dave Scheer (636-388-1307).

​To qualify for this award the student must earn a varsity letter and a 3.60 GPA the 2nd semester.

We all like to support our local businesses when possible, but sometimes we are not able to find products locally and have to turn to companies such as Amazon.  Did you know that you can still provide local support by using Amazon Smile?  When you enter Amazon through smile.amazon.com, Amazon will make a donation to the charity of your choice.  You do not have to create a new Amazon account to use this service.  They donate 0.5% of your purchase price on eligible items.  Local charities include New Haven School District Foundation, New Haven Care Center, Camp Trinity, and New Haven Community Betterment Association among others.  It is important that these charities register with Amazon to receive their funds.  Please buy local when you can but remember there are ways to support local charities when you can’t.  For more information about the program please click here.