SEPTEMBER 16, 2004
Glens Falls to host NJCAA tournament
By MICHAEL LEWIS

RICK GARGIULO - THE POST-STAR Glens Falls has high hopes that many people will come to East Field for the NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) Division III Baseball Championships.

GLENS FALLS -- Whether Glens Falls ever gets a minor-league baseball team again is unknown.

But what is clear is that the city and local sports community continue taking steps to make East Field a strong venue again.

Wednesday afternoon at City Hall, Glens Falls Golden Eagles owner Charles Adams and mayor Robert Regan announced that the city will become the new host for the National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association Division II Baseball Championships.

Adams announced a three-year deal with the NJCAA to have the eight-team, double-elimination event at East Field from May 21-27.

The move follows the successful debut last summer of the Golden Eagles, a franchise in the New York Collegiate Baseball League that played at East Field and was successful on and off the field.

"The heart of East Field is baseball, and this event will give us another chance to show off the beautiful renovations made at the park, and also bring in a terrific tournament," Adams said. "We expect this to be a great chance to bring new people to our town, and for people in our area to see some excellent baseball."

Division III baseball is the second level of junior college ball; the schools do not offer scholarships, unlike Division I junior college squads.

The tournament has teams from all over the country; last spring at the previous site, Batavia, teams from Massachussetts, Maryland, Minnesota, Texas and Illinois joined squads from New York and New Jersey in the event.

Teams compete from the 24 regional districts to reach the tournament.

RICK GARGIULO - THE POST-STAR New York Collegiate Baseball League commissioner Dave Chamberlain talks about the upcoming NJCAA Division III Baseball Championships.

The city, the Golden Eagles and the NJCAA will have a unique arrangement for the tournament: All profits the Golden Eagles make from the event will be put back into improvements into East Field.

The idea for bringing the tournament to Glens Falls was hatched by David Chamberlain, the commissioner of the NYCBL. A longtime junior college coach, Chamberlain was approached by NJCAA director Wayne Baker about relocating the tournament from Batavia.

After seeing the renovated East Field this summer, Chamberlain got Adams and Baker together to see if Glens Falls might be interested.

After a visit over the summer, Baker was sold.

"The field was absolutely gorgeous, and everything else about the town appealed to us," Baker said. "It's a neat, mid-sized town that has plenty of available hotel and restaurant space for the players and fans."

Both Regan and Adams talked excitedly about the economic impact the weeklong event could have on Glens Falls.

Jim Martin, the city's director of economic development, said he thought the tournament could bring in $1 million.

"You're talking about 300-500 people staying here for 7, 8 days each," Martin said.

"And these are new people, and new money coming in here," Adams said.

One potential problem in attracting local baseball fans is that it will be held in the middle of the Section II high school baseball tournament.

Doug Kenyon, the former Glens Falls High School athletics director and a man who will help advise Adams and the soon-to-be formed tournament committee, said he didn't think the conflict would hurt attendance.

"I think once you're in that part of the (high school) tournament you only have a few local teams left, and people are still going to want to see baseball," Kenyon said. "The NJCAA tournament will be a great thing for area fans to see."