By Brandon Park
Staff Writer

The Morgan County Recreational Department and Heritage Park played host to the 9-10 year-old Mite League Georgia Recreation and Park Association State Tournament last weekend.
Eight teams representing Morgan, Tallapoosa, Long County, Metter-Candler County, Pulaski County, Putnam County, Berrien County and Appling County descended on the park July 10-12.
Accompanying those teams were hundreds of fans, parents and grandparents cheering for their favorites.
"We had a great tournament," Rec. Department Athletic Director J.D. Doss said. "This is always a good group of kids to watch play. There is a lot of enthusiasm and excitement with this age group. We were glad to have the tournament here."
Play began on Thursday under stormy skies. The rains parted and three days of championship baseball ensued.
Morgan played on Thursday afternoon, Friday morning, Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. Each and every game filled the hometown stands with support and cheers.
The Mite's head coach Dusty Hawkins said he was pleased to see the turn out of support from the Morgan community.
"We had tremendous support from the community at the games. I was very pleased with the turnout," he said. "It means a lot to the kids when they hear everyone cheering for them."
Morgan County hosts at least one tournament a year, according to Doss. The tournaments are bid on in December.
"We host at least one or two, maybe three tournaments a year." Doss said.
Last year, the Midget boys and Mite girls tournaments were both played in Morgan County to a similarly large turnout.
Doss also added that an overwhelming majority of the visitors traveling with their teams kept talking about how nice the town of Madison has been.
"They just love coming to Madison," Doss said. "They commented on how nice the hotels were, how good the food is and how hospitable the residents and businesses are to them. That says a lot for this small town."