The 3rd Annual Mad River RBI Tournament brought an estimated thousands of visitors to Bellefontaine over the weekend, as 66 youth baseball and softball teams from across Ohio competed in 128 games at three city parks.

The tournament featured a full slate of brackets for all ages. Spanning from 9- to 14-year-old age groups.

Bellefontaine youth baseball was well represented throughout the tournament. The youth programs in the city had multiple teams enter the tournament and participate in the 128-game slate of games that took place.  

The influx of patrons in the area was so noticeable that it caused restaurants to close early in the days to follow and saw $10,000 dollars in concession sales alone stated Bellefontaine Joint Recreation District on Facebook.

“It is going to take everyone to make sure this thing runs smoothly, but we have a great group of workers, and we plan to make this event go as smoothly as possible.” Said Parks Superintendent Rick Reed.

In the city's continued effort to improve the parks, Reed shared his excitement about Ratleff Park.

“I’m excited about Ratleff Park. The team has put in a ton of time and effort, and in my time of being here, I can’t remember a time that it has ever looked better.” Said Reed.

All of the sales from the concessions go toward paying the staff and future improvements to be made at the parks in Bellefontaine.

With 66 teams comes a plethora of family members, friends, and others coming to the city to view the competitions. And a whole lot of food service for hungry families looking for a good bite to eat at local dining establishments.

Iron City Sports Bar was slammed throughout the weekend and had to close early on Sunday due to a lack of product, due to the immense number of patrons visiting the restaurant.

The Midwest Tournament Factory brings more action to Bellefontaine in the first week of June.