Pennington Gap hosts all-ages wiffle ball tournament on July 3

Leeman Field turned a summer morning into a low-key gathering point on July 3, as Pennington Gap hosted an all-ages wiffle ball tournament with registration beginning at 9 a.m. and first pitches at 10 a.m. Players signed up at the Leeman Field stage, a setup that kept the event open, quick to join and easy for families, vacationers and casual players to drop into without needing much more than time and interest.

The tournament fit neatly into the town’s Independence Day calendar, landing between Kids Day at Leeman Field on July 1 and the July 4th Celebration on July 4. That placement made the wiffle ball stop feel less like a standalone competition and more like part of a run of holiday programming that carried Pennington Gap through the week. A town schedule also listed the event for 9 a.m., matching the morning registration window and underscoring how early the action was meant to begin.

The setting mattered as much as the bracket. Leeman Field RV Park and Campgrounds, the venue for the tournament, offers 21 full hook-up sites and sits alongside access to the Greenway and the nearby Stone Mountain ATV Trail. Those details help explain why the event worked so well as a community draw: it was built for people already around town, people camping nearby and locals looking for something active that did not require a full day or special equipment. Wiffle ball fit the space because it asks for very little and still feels like a real game.

Leeman Field also carries a history that gives the tournament a different kind of weight. Constructed in 1933, it was long known as the world’s largest enclosed baseball field, with the historic park covering 15 acres. Today, that same site serves as a broader recreation hub, and the July 3 tournament showed how easily a stripped-down version of baseball can still anchor a public gathering. In a holiday week stacked with events, the draw was simple: show up, register at the stage and play.