Mingo Bay Baseball Classic getting bigger in 2016

The 2016 Mingo Bay Baseball Classic is getting bigger.

The annual high school tournament, which started in 1982 as the North-South Baseball Tournament and later named the Hawaiian Tropic before taking on its current name, will include a 76-team field for its primary week. That March 29-April 2 block will feature nine local schools, as well as 67 others from 14 different states.

The mega tournament will be sandwiched by two smaller ones. Week 1 (March 21-25) will include 16 teams from Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee, Florida and Ohio. Week 3 (April 25-29) will be comprised of 10 teams from New York taking advantage of that state’s spring break.

Last year, the tournament was split into two weeks, with 64 teams in one and 60 in the other. Narbonne (Calif.), Buford and Socastee were among the title-winning teams in 2015.

This time around, teams will again come almost entirely from the Eastern time zone, although they will also come from as far as away Illinois.

This story was originally published January 25, 2016 at 5:20 PM with the headline "Mingo Bay Baseball Classic getting bigger in 2016."