Malad Baseball Tournament

Malad Baseball Tournament by: Billy Wardle
When we were younger, we like to play baseball, but mostly we coached.  Our baseball escapades gave us the opportunity to go to tournaments in Malad every year.  We also went to other cities, but it seemed Malad was always our favorite.  So much so that the city of Malad always held something magical for me.
    The Malad tournament was held in August every year, usually the second weekend.  It was about an hour drive from Hyrum.  We would go up and camp out.  We stayed in placed like the American Legion Hall, the old hospital, camped downtown; and camped by an old church.
    The town always bustled with excitement.  There was pinball to be played (this was before all the video games came out), a free swim pass to use, a free bowling pass, free movies as well as free prizes from some of the local merchants. 
    Of course there was the baseball too.  Our teams varied in their performance, but we seemed to get better over the years.  It was always more fun to win.  It allowed you to stay more days at the tournament.  It also allowed you to hold your head up high when you ran into kids from any of the other fifteen teams.  It was especially good when you were in a championship game—which happened a few times.