A 'generational' thing

OTHELLO — The scene at Lions Park in Othello this weekend was one of family for the Latino State Championship, a slowpitch-style tournament that brought in more than 40 teams from the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere.

“The environment we create is a family-type of environment,” Tournament Organizer Charles Garcia said. “We want people to stay, we want people to eat here, visit and socialize. Ultimately we want them to spend money in our town, and support our economy.”

The tournament was brought to Othello by Garcia and revitalized what the Latino State Championship was. Now, the annual tournament is full of teams and entertainment throughout Lions Park.

“At the end of the day, this is exactly the type of atmosphere that we want,” Garcia said of the fun times that were being had over the weekend. “Where you can hang out in the park, you can set up the lawn chair and watch a game. You’re not worrying about your kids going too far because they’re playing with another set of kids that you know.”

The Latino State Championship had four subdivisions – men’s upper, men’s lower, women’s and coed. 41 teams played on the softball diamonds throughout the weekend, making strides in competition.

“Over the years we’ve seen our lower level really become competitive,” Garcia said of the competition seen throughout the weekend. “They’re not competitive enough to play in the upper section of the tournament yet, and that’s because our upper level – you’d have to average 15-25 runs a game to be competitive.”

Competition included teams from the Basin, Idaho, Oregon and as far as Texas.

“There’s people, they’ve legitimately flown in from California, from Texas – numerous states to play this weekend,” Garcia said.

However, Garcia is not satisfied with where the tournament is, in a good way. He believes it can be spread into something even bigger, in hopes to host a world championship.

“It’s bittersweet, self-satisfaction, because we’re not done,” Garcia said of players coming to Othello from other states. “It still can be better, it still can be bigger. Really, the purpose of this tournament is to enjoy yourself – enjoy yourself playing a kid’s game.”

Players raved about the host site, according to Garcia.

“They like our town,” Garcia said. “They like coming to Othello because we have a good facility. When we got a grant - when we renovated these fields - it really put us back on the map as being a location that can host this. We just have to work on our infrastructure as a city to be able to have hotels that can accommodate this type of stuff.”

Along with the softball games occurring on the field, off-field entertainment included music and food served by vendors throughout the days.

“We always have a DJ in the park all day on Saturday, and we follow it up with a band in the park on the stage,” Garcia said.

Throughout all the games and entertainment seen during the weekend, Garcia picked out a specific moment that stood out to him.

“My favorite thing is looking over and seeing a dad with his kid, wearing the same jersey,” Garcia said. “Because that’s how this tournament started. It’s generational. That means to me, he’s paving the way for his son to play in this tournament.”

Full results and standings were not available in time for press deadline, but can be found at https://bit.ly/3QYYPzh.

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com. Find more of his work and additional sports content on the Columbia Basin Herald app, available on iOS and Android devices.