USSSA Announcement Brings Excitement to Tourism Industry - WMDT 47 News - Delmarva's Choice

WICOMICO Co., Md. - A big announcement for Wicomico County and all of the Eastern Shore.

"USSSA is proud to announce that for the 7th consecutive year in 2013, we will be bringing the event back to town," USSSA Vice President Bill Dowell said.

Young softball players from across the region are here to win the title in the Fast Pitch Eastern World Series, and they get to experience all the Eastern Shore has to offer. "We went down to Ocean City, Md., down to the boardwalk - went to the beach," coach of the New York Panthers Joseph Bassano said. "They're extremely excited - for most of them, it's the first time ever, so this is a memory they'll remember forever," coach of the Pennsylvania Storm Max Olsen said.

With nearly 300 teams and more than 4,000 players, coaches, family and friends from all across the country, the impact has been tremendous. "For the past two weeks, it's brought a huge economic boost to our county - over $8 million of revenue between the meals, the hotel rooms - there have been 11,000 hotel nights in the past two weeks just from this tournament alone," Wicomico County Council Vice President Matt Holloway said.

The hope is to continue to bring this event to town for years to come. "To grow and retain an event of this caliber is, in tourism, Wicomico County's greatest achievement," Wicomico County Recreation & Parks Director Gary Mackes said.

The second half of the tournament begins Tuesday and the games will wrap up on Saturday. For a complete list of games and locations, go to www.salisburychampionships.org/worldseries.html.