U C ME SPRING JAM LINEUPMay 22 at the First Tennessee PavilionMurphy Lee and the St. Lunatics8ball & MJGChopperDJ UnkDem Get-Away BoyzDurroughSuper BlancoBobby Valentino(Tickets are $15 at Power 94 and Tisdale Fashions)
The Black Softball Circuit and Grammy Award winning rapper Murphy Lee are bringing the U C Me Easton Instant Classic slowpitch softball tournament to the Summit of Softball Complex and Camp Jordan from May 21-23.
Lee and the St. Lunatics will also be headlining a Spring Jam on that Saturday at the First Tennessee Pavilion across from Finley Stadium. Local radio station Power 94 is teaming with the city to sponsor the concert, which is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
The tournament is the first adult competition featuring more than 100 teams the city has hosted since the Summit opened in July of 2009. A total of 106 men’s and women’s teams, three of them local, will be representing 18 states in the tournament. Four championships to be decided on that Sunday afternoon.
The recreation division, which will have a limit of three home runs per team per game, will include 58 men’s and 25 women’s teams. The competitve division will feature 17 men’s and six women’s teams. Opposing teams will bid each game on a home run limit. Bids must be between five and 10 and the low bid wins out.
Chattanooga Parks & Recreation Department assistant director Greta Hayes said using the Greater Chattanooga Sports and Events Committee’s formula for estimating economic impact, the event would boost the local economy by almost $1 million.
“The I-75 corridor is a great location,” said CEO Clay Dickey, who lives in Tallahassee, Fla., and founded the BSC three years ago. “Two of the main cities for our teams are Atlanta and Cincinnati, and they’re right on that I-75 pipeline. We saw that multi-million-dollar facility in Chattanooga, and we were in awe with it. We had a small tournament of about 40 teams there in late August.”
The U C Me weekend’s festivities will begin with a “meet-and-greet” Friday at the Summit. A home run derby will also be featured that night. Action is scheduled to begin Saturday morning at 8 and will take place all day at both complexes.
A pitch, hit and run — Major League Baseball’s official skills competion — will be held that Sunday at the Summit at 2 p.m. Registration will begin at noon and is open to all boys and girls ages 7 through 14.
“This is not just a softball tournament, although that’s the headliner,” Hayes said. “We’re really trying to promote positive activity by adults and we’re trying to show the community that people of different backgrounds and interests can come together and not have any violent acts. This association represents the positive atmosphere, like a family atmosphere.”
Hayes said the Chattanooga Police Department will be providing security at all the venues. Admission is $5 per vehicle for the weekend at each softball complex.
On Labor Day weekend the BSC will be holding its World Series, which Dickey said will feature about 200 teams, in Columbus, Ga. Hayes said that’s a tournament Chattanooga would like to procure.
“This is our chance to roll out the red carpet,” Hayes said. “We want them to have a royal time while they’re here, and we need local support. We want to have their World Series here next year.”
Besides Lee, seven other performers are expected to take the stage at the Spring Jam. They include 8ball & MJG, from Memphis, and Chopper, who gained notoriety from MTV’s Making the Band series. Tickets are $15 and may be purchased through Power 94 and at Tisdale Fashions on Brainerd Road.
Winners in the pitch, hit and run will advance to regional competition. The nation’s top participants will end up competing in July at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif., when MLB holds its All-Star Game. For information in advance about the local pitch, hit and run contact Richard West at (423) 643-6055.