There are many traditions celebrated throughout baseball and this weekend will be no different as Ossineke will be holding its annual summer tournament.

This particular tournament started when Gerald Ludwiczak began running the weekend festivities back in 2000. The tournament first took place in Lincoln and continued there for several years and has since moved to Veterans Field in Ossineke. This will be the third year the tournament will be held in Ossineke.

“I started this years ago with the idea of playing baseball and being up north was a good draw for not only teams, but also good for the local economy. I owe a huge thanks to Marty Carstens who was very instrumental in getting the tournament moved to Ossineke so I could continue this tradition,” Ludwiczak said.

Over time, the 18 year-old and above tournament has seen players from various ages that compete, along with teams from all over the state, including Pontiac, Lincoln Park and Flint.

Rosters will include a mix of high level players from former college and minor league players, along with a handful of players who played in the independent leagues.

“I was born and raised in Alpena and moved downstate for work. Not forgetting my roots, I started this tournament to have other teams experience the Northern Michigan lifestyle and I never knew or expected it would last this long,” Ludwiczak said.

After many years of playing baseball in Alpena, Ludwiczak has continued to return home to continue to be around the game that he loves. Ludwiczak played baseball in the NEM baseball league before he moved away and the league is still around to this day.

“Today’s society with the internet and video games has seen a rapid decrease in outdoor sports and with this being said, I started the tournament on a whim and I would have never guessed that it would last this long,” Ludwiczak said.

This will be the 17th consecutive year that the tournament will take place and as always, the competition will be fierce as three of the teams already entered in this year’s tournament have all won their respective leagues.

The weekend’s games started Friday and will continue to run through today and Sunday. There are only four teams competing in this year’s tournament in what will be a round robin style setting until Sunday when it will become single elimination for the championship game. There is no admission and everyone is welcome to attend.

All games begin at 10 a.m. the next two days.

“I just want the residents of Alpena and surrounding areas to understand that baseball is not dead. Being born and raised here, I am proud to say that I am from here and want other people to experience the lifestyle we call home,” Ludwiczak said.