Connie Mack Smacks out 58th Season

San Juan County is officially baseball country. 2023 marks the 58th year Farmington has played host to the wildly popular Connie Mack World Series at the grandstand-renovated Ricketts Park. You're watching the Local NEWS Network, brought to you by Traegers Bar and Northern Edge Casino. I'm Hayley Opsal. The Connie Mack World Series is the largest event in Northern New Mexico, running about 800,000 fans through the gates each year. It's the fourth highest-attended and third longest-running event in the state. The American Amateur Baseball Congress is the sponsoring organization for the series. Local AABC President, Richard Neely, has got to be the series' biggest campaigner.

Its economic boost, a million dollars to the economy. The 300 plus volunteers that we have. The City of Farmington. Look at the crowd. Look what's here. They all stand out. They all turn out, and they all cheer for these teams from all across the United States. And welcome to Farmington, the Four Corners.

Connie Mack regular-season play allows highly talented young men, ages 16 to 18, to participate. 12 teams come from across the United States and Canada to compete in the championship as pro scouts and college officials take notes. Pitcher, Riley Schroder, an 18-year-old from Lubbock, Texas, is ready for an illustrious future.

Well, I'm going to go play college baseball and then hopefully play in the big leagues. That'd be the plan. We'll see.

Outfielder, Anthony Smith, with the Oklahoma Express, appreciated the local high altitude.

Actually, I love it, and I also love hitting here 'cause the air's dense, so the ball flies.

On a final Friday night, a fan and housing volunteer enjoyed reminiscing about the series so far.

It's been awesome. We've had such a wonderful week just enjoying the games. We're actually hosting boys. So, we do this every year, and we love to come and be a part of the environment and cheer on the teams.

Although Connie Mack fans may have to wait another year for the next tournament, another way to celebrate the series is in the works. "Bleacher Rats," a script written by local writers Greg Tucker and John Foust, is a Connie Mack coming-of-age baseball movie that takes place in the 1980s. Filming begins this September. To learn more about this and other stories, go to farmingtonlocal.news. Thank you for watching this edition of The Local NEWS Network. I'm Hayley Opsal.