Springtime weather in the Mountain State can be highly unpredictable.
That very fact played out again last week.
After temperatures in the 70’s early in the week, rain, snow and sleet made its unwelcome appearance over the weekend.
One the many events effected by the wild weekend weather was the annual Allen D. Coppinger Invitational Baseball Tournament which was scheduled to start Friday evening.
With Friday and Saturday seeing unplayable conditions, tournament director and Bluefield High School assistant principal Justin Gilbert had to make some schedule and venue changes.
Originally set to be played at Bowen Field in Bluefield and Hunicutt Stadium in Princeton, the tournament will include games played at PikeView High School and the Tazewell Middle School Baseball Complex.
Now in its 48th year, the Coppinger Tournament started as the Bluefield Invitational Tournament under the direction of the late Bluefield High School head coach, John Chmara in 1974.
It was re-named in 1982 for Allen D. Coppinger who was a prominent businessman and served as president of the Bluefield Baseball Club.
Legendary players like Billy Wagner, Curt Warner and Steven Newberry have all played in the prestigious event.
Wagner graduated from Tazewell and pitched 16 seasons in the majors. Warner was a standout at Pineville before becoming an All-American running back at Penn State and playing professionally for the Seattle Seahawks. Newberry went on to star at West Virginia University from 1980-83 where he still holds a share of the career interceptions record.
The tournament is made up of 12 teams that are divided into four pods for a round-robin style of play.
Each team is guaranteed two games with the top two teams in each pod advancing to a single elimination, knockout format.
Tournament directors will meet at the conclusion of round-robin play to determine the seeds, 1-8.
Last year due to Covid restrictions, the tournament was made up of teams strictly from West Virginia. This year the format is back to normal with six teams each from Virginia and its neighbor from the west.
The West Virginia teams include Bluefield, Shady Spring, Summers County, Woodrow Wilson, PikeView and Princeton.
Tazewell, Richlands, Marion, Honaker, Chilhowie and Graham all hail from Virginia.
“It’s awesome to play in an event like this,” Shady Spring head coach Jordan Meadows said. “(Justin) texted me last year and said he wanted to get Shady back into it. The Coppinger has great history and I was all for it.”
The Tigers made their way to the championship game last year before dropping a 7-2 contest to Bluefield. It was the Beavers first Coppinger title since 1977.
Having teams from both states in the event adds more excitement according to Meadows.
“Last year, we only had West Virginia teams in it, but this year there is even more excitement because the Virginia teams are back. We are paired against two Virginia teams this year,” Meadows said. “We are looking forward to playing the Virginia guys and hopefully making another run at the championship.”
Shady Spring will be paired with Honaker (3-1) and Marion Senior (6-0) in pod “B”.
“I told the kids in practice that we were going into the Coppinger not knowing a single thing about either team,” Meadows said. “That is a good thing because hopefully we can play loose and enjoy some baseball.”
Defending champion Bluefield (7-1) is in pod “A” with Summers County (2-4) and Richlands (2-3). Pod “C” has Woodrow Wilson (7-3), PikeView (6-3) and Tazewell (1-2), while pod “D” is made up of Princeton (3-9), Chilhowie (1-3) and Graham (1-4).
All round-robin games are now scheduled to be played Monday and Tuesday with the single elimination portion commencing Wednesday.
Among the current teams this year, Richlands, Bluefield, Shady Spring, Summers County, Honaker, Princeton, PikeView and Tazewell have all one at least one title over the years.
Tazewell has the most Coppinger Tournament wins overall.
Coppinger Tournament Schedule
Monday, April 11
at Bowen Field
Richlands vs. Summers County, 5 p.m.
Bluefield vs. Summers County, 7 p.m.
at Hunnicutt Field
Honaker vs. Shady Spring, 5 p.m.
Marion vs. Shady Spring, 7 p.m.
at Tazewell Middle
Chilhowie vs. Graham, 5 p.m.
Princeton vs. Graham, 7 p.m.
at PikeView High School
Woodrow Wilson vs. PikeView, 5 p.m.
Tazewell vs. PikeView, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, April 12
at Bowen Field
Honaker vs. Marion, 5 p.m.
Bluefield vs. Richlands, 7 p.m.
at Hunicutt Field
Woodrow Wilson vs. Tazewell, 5 p.m.
Chilhowie vs. Princeton, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, April 13
at Bowen Field
(1) No. 4 seed vs. No. 5 seed, 5 p.m.
(2) No. 1 seed vs. No. 8 seed, 7 p.m.
at Hunicutt Field
(3) No. 3 seed vs. No. 6 seed, 5 p.m.
(4) No. 2 seed vs. No. 7 seed
Thursday, April 14
at Bowen Field
Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 5 p.m.
Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 7 p.m.
Friday, April 15
at Bowen Field
Championship Game, 6 p.m.
