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WESTFIELD, Ind. — A large baseball tournament at Westfield’s Grand Park has earned top national honors. 

Bullpen Tournaments has been named a “2019 Champions of Economic Impact in Sports Tourism” by Sports Destination Management, a national publication. 

According to Inside Indiana Business, Bullpen started as a tournament in 2016 for 72 teams. 

This year, the event lasted three weeks and brought in 465 different teams — nearly 8,000 athletes — from all over the country, who played a total of 1,165 games. 

“Our tournament, Grand Park and Westfield have become a part of their baseball lives and their baseball memories,” said Blake Hibler, president of Bullpen Tournament. “We are excited to receive this award from Sports Destination Management. We are even more thrilled to contribute to the vision the Mayor and City of Westfield have for Grand Park.”

Sports Destination Management says 81 percent of the teams came from outside Indiana. Nearly 30,000 people visited Westfield, bringing in nearly $30 million. 

In its review of the tournament, the publication said the tournament is quickly becoming known as “a premier baseball showcase nationwide and has had a tremendous economic impact on the community in only four years.”

(Photo courtesy of Grand Park)