Memorial Day weekend in Benton is a baseball-softball extravaganza.

With 179 teams, this Tournament of Champions is the largest event in state history.

Clint Albright and the Busch 4 th of July Classic always draws close to 150 teams, but his is for men’s and women’s softball only.

The TOC has 19 divisions of softball and baseball.

It also marks a first in the state’s softball history by being the first sanctioned Independent Softball Association tournament in Arkansas.

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What makes ISA different — and popular across the country — is that it is more like baseball, including allowing players to steal bases.

State director Chris Walker, a longtime noted and respected player and businessman, has taken on this new organization, and to help introduce it in a positive way, he is bringing in six longtime ISA umpires from Tennessee and will assign one to each field to work with some of the best umpires in Arkansas.

Tournament director Shane Pigue has put together a firstclass event, and helping him every step of the way have been Benton Mayor Rick Holland, his staff and numerous volunteers.

The ballpark has been completely remodeled. There are new roads in and out of the complex, and a new parking lot has been added.

The Arkansas Softball Hall of Fame is considering making Benton its permanent home.

Saline County has long been a hotbed of baseball and softball, but no one has ever put as much work into one event as Pigue, who is in the Arkansas Softball Hall of Fame.

Two of the outstanding local teams to watch this weekend will be Panther Pride of Benton, a 12-under girls fast-pitch team that is ranked No. 3 in the nation by USSSA, and the Bryant All-Stars, who as 12-year-olds finished second in the Cal Ripken World Series, won state and region last year and are back as 14-year-olds.

In the men’s softball upper division the team to beat may be Swing, which is coming in from St. Louis. It is the defending world champion and winter national champ. It is going to be an outstanding weekend in Benton, starting with two great exhibition games and then a ton of tough competition.

These days, summer doesn’t always mean leisurely days away from school. They also mean summer camps.

Basketball, football and baseball camps are being held all over the state, and June is a huge month for Anthony Lucas and J. J. Meadors and their Life Champs Youth Sports camps.

The two-day camps for boys and girls, ages 5-8 and 9-12, begin soon and will include numerous instructors who played college football, including Lucas, Meadors and UCA Bear Ben Faires.

More details are available by contacting Sue Phillips at (501 ) 255-0950.

There are a limited number of tables remaining for the Coach Rip Birthday Roast and Toast.

Coach Charles Ripley will celebrate his 62 nd birthday by subjecting himself to the roast, and just the other day when one of the roasters complained he couldn’t think of anything critical to say, Rip responded with: “You better. I’m going to be prepared for you guys.” The event will be June 12 at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock (doors open at 5: 30 p.m. ), and it will include one of the biggest silent auctions in the history of the state.

In fact, the last update Kim Horrell put out on the auction, live and silent, was 10 typed pages.

Rip is the athletic director at Arkansas Baptist and its men’s basketball head coach, and proceeds from the event will go to Buffaloes athletics.

Anyone wanting to buy a ticket ($ 75 ) or a table ($ 750 ) should contact Linda Gilliam-Weir at (501 ) 244-5110.

What a shame that the state finals for high school baseball and softball were on the same day as high school graduation for some.

Many of the Marion girls and Malvern boys had to miss that big event for the biggest sporting event in their young lives.