USCAA Baseball & Softball Championships kick off in DuBois

CLEARFIELD COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) – The USCAA Baseball & Softball National Championships are underway in DuBois and the tournament is providing more than just sports entertainment.

The city of DuBois will grow by hundreds of people throughout the week. Several athletes and visitors are in town for the championships, filling up restaurants and hotels. This year’s tournament features 10 of the best baseball and softball teams from around the country.

Over the last 6 years, Penn State DuBois baseball has won 4 titles and is looking to repeat after winning last year. The softball team missed the tournament last year and is looking to capture gold.

“It’s another opportunity for our young ladies to come out here and show their skills. We didn’t know if we would be making the tournament, so we just have another opportunity, especially for some of the seniors and ones that will be leaving this year. It’s just a great time,” Women’s Softball Coach Jeff Tomb said.

But off the field, both teams are making an even bigger impact on the community.

“Bringing in a lot of different people into the community, helping the community out as much as they help us out on campus. We now get to help the community out economically a little bit more,” Assistant Athletic Director for Penn State DuBois Daniel Smay said.

One team is Carlow University from Pittsburgh and one of their players, Madeline Bowes, is from Saint Marys.

“Getting to show them what back home kind of feels like. This is a big deal for them to come back to where I’m from and play in this tournament every year so it’s pretty rewarding for me. Family enjoys getting to come see the team,” Bowes said.

“The buzz is pretty good around campus and then even the community atmosphere that we have for just Penn State DuBois alone is you hear the buzz out in town. It’s a pretty cool thing,” Smay said.

Penn State DuBois will look to repeat as champions, the schedule can be found by following the link here .

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