By Josh:
I love road trips. Hopping in my family’s van and driving for 17 hours for vacations was somewhat normal for my family and still is today. When I was a kid we actually had a tv/vcr combo that plugged into a cigarette lighter so we could watch movies on our road trips. I loved road trips then and I love them now.
So each year I sit down and think about what I would do if I had the time to do some different baseball road trips here in the northwest. I am doing that again this year but I wanted to also write a post about a few fun baseball/softball events and road trip ideas that a fan could go to and enjoy themselves.
1.NWAC Baseball Championship
Held in Longview, WA every year over Memorial Day weekend (Thursday through Monday) the NWAC championships is great baseball, great atmosphere and really a big reason why I have fallen in love with college baseball.
I started covering this event in 2015 and it is amazing the level of talent that I have seen play here. Anyone who thinks JUCO baseball is a lesser level of baseball needs to come watch because every team in the tourney has D1 talent across the diamond and on the mound.
2. NWAC Softball Championship
Held in Spokane, WA the weekend before Memorial Day weekend, this is a championship packed with games from the start. While this event was held in Portland, OR I was able to make it down there a couple times and had so much fun. Multiple games going on at the same time makes it almost a guarantee that you can see exciting moments and games all weekend long.
3. GSL College Showcase
If you don’t have a specific team or player you are rooting for, and just want to be at a ballpark watching games and eating some good ballpark food this is a great option. Held in Centralia, WA July 7th – July 12th, this event has 72 top northwest programs giving it their all. It is a showcase so teams do approach it a little differently than a regular tournament but the games are still a lot of fun to watch and the athletes still want to win.
4.Baseball NW Championships and Junior Championships
Like the previous event this is a showcase event but that doesn’t lessen the talent that is a part of this. Held Aug 6th-9th (Junior) and Aug 13th-16th in Centralia, WA there are games running all day long and with a comfortable camping chair and a cooler full of good food and water, you can have a great weekend watching baseball.
5. Little League/Babe Ruth/Legion State and Regional Tourneys
Although the locations and dates vary from year to year there are a lot of great tournaments to watch across the Northwest and really across the nation. All of the dates and locations for these tournaments should be announced in the next few weeks if they haven’t already been announced.
I’ll actually be covering a few of these this summer and can’t wait for the summer. Keep an eye out for more Road Trip ideas as I plan to write at least one more but probably 2 or 3 more, and if you need any suggestions on teams, cities and restaurants to visit in the Northwest feel free to contact me.