Coppinger Invitational baseball tournament returning to Bowen, Hunnicutt

Apr. 11—BLUEFIELD — Baseball, Bowen and a hearty helping of Hunnicutt.

High school diamond doings for 2021 get back in full swing with the start of the 47th annual Allen D. Coppinger Invitational Baseball Tournament on Friday, April 16. After an unexpected COVID delay forced postponement of last season's showdown, the Coppinger has returned with a six-pack of West Virginia talent in a two-bracket set of competitors. Games will be played at Bowen Field in Bluefield and Hunnicutt Field in Princeton.

Bluefield will host Summers County at Bowen Field at 6 p.m. on April 16 while Princeton host Shady Spring at 6 p.m. at Hunnicutt Field. Tuesday, April 20 is the tentative rain date for the tournament, slated to host the championship game on Friday, April 23.

Bluefield, Summers County, and Woodrow Wilson-Beckley are in one three-team bracket while Princeton, Pike View, and Shady Spring make up the other group. Every school in the 2021 event has won a Coppinger championship. The Bluefield Beavers remain the only team to have played in every Coppinger tournament. Each team in the 2021 event is guaranteed at least two games and the championship contenders will play four times.

Tournament director Justin Gilbert, long-time Bluefield High baseball coach and now BHS assistant principal, is directing the event along with veteran coach and tournament official Jeff Boyles.

Originally developed by the late Bluefield coach John Chmara, the event was first known as the Bluefield Invitational Tournament from 1974 until 1981, when it became the Coppinger in honor of Mr. Coppinger, a prominent Bluefield business leader and sportsman. Coppinger served many years as president of the Bluefield Baseball Club when the city hosted the Appalachian League Bluefield Orioles, a Class D affiliate of Baltimore. Coppinger is generally credited as having most influenced the big-league Orioles to keep the Baby Birds here following the 1973 fire which destroyed the park's old wooden grandstands. Well-known baseball officials including George Fanning and George McGonagle have been instrumental in keeping the event alive, with active participation from local coaching and officiating legends such as Ergie Smith, Tony Colobro, Lou Peery and Glynn Carlock.

Boyles, a standout during his high school years at Princeton, who made the first Coppinger All Tournament team as a player and later served several years as a coach at Bluefield High School, has said, "We are very excited to be part of the Coppinger experience. Over the years, the competition has been outstanding. Our teams play in first-class facilities and the concessions are excellent. For a $5 fee, this is one of the most affordable forms of entertainment anywhere in the area."

Many stars have performed in the Coppinger since East Bank edged Princeton in the first tournament nearly half a century ago. Standout southpaw Billy Wagner, with more than 400 major league saves in an All-Star career, was an All-Stater for nine-time Coppinger champion Tazewell. Famed National Football League runner for the Seattle Seahawks Curt Warner played for Pineville. Several performers from the 25 teams who have participated in West Virginia's oldest baseball invitational tourney took turns in minor league baseball. Current BHS head basketball coach "Buster" Large, who played at Graham for Coach Bill Kinser, was also a member of the first Coppinger All Tournament squad and Bluefield softball coach Barry Reed also played for the G-Men, making several tournament honor squads during his playing days at GHS.

East Bank won the first two tournaments. From 1983 — 93, the large number of teams dictated a format of "AAA" and "AA/A" opponents with two championship trophies, two all-tournament teams and two MVP awards. Weather also played a part in many tournaments. For example, Mount View won the Coppinger in 1979, the first year the school opened. The Golden Knights, delayed by a rainy spring, finally clinched the championship on May 9, the latest date the Coppinger ever concluded.

Gilbert says, "Our format is grouped into two three-team pods with a round-robin in each group. First-round teams with a win move into a single-elimination round of four. After the fourth day of the tournament, the directors will determine seeding for play that begins on April 21. Beginning then, the remainder of the event will be played at Bowen Field. In the event there is a tie in the pod to see who moves on, the tie-breakers include head-to-head, run differential and fewest runs allowed."

Coaches and players will follow standard regulations, there is a 10-run rule, and procedures for determining seeding and other considerations.

There is a $5 fee for students and adults for each game.