By Ross Johnson

Sports Writer

The Callaway Softball Invitational is in its fifth year, and head coach Ken Mapp sees it staying for awhile.

Mapp, the long-time coach of the Lady Cavaliers, thinks it’s a perfect opportunity for teams to work out their kinks before region play begins.

With 15 teams scheduled to participate this year, the games will be good tests for every school involved.

The tournament is scheduled to begin today and conclude Saturday.

Troup and LaGrange are also participating.

The tournament is especially important for Callaway, which is hosting the event.

“(The tournament) is big for us,” Mapp said. “It pays all our bills for the year.”

All 15 teams will be separated into four pools.

Callaway, Manchester, Walnut Grove and Upson-Lee will be in Pool A, Troup, Hardaway, Bowdon and Mary Persons will be in Pool B, LaGrange, Kendrick, Crawford County and Pacelli will be in Pool C, and Columbus, Jordan and Luella will be in Pool D.

Columbus won the tournament last year, and it returns nearly every starter from 2008.

LaGrange won the Silver division, and Callaway won the Red last year.

After each team completes pool play, the teams will be separated into divisions, depending on their record.

The Gold will be the teams with the best record, and the Red will feature teams with the worst records in their pools.

All games were set to begin today at 4 p.m. at Shuford Fields, and the tournament will pick up again Saturday at 9 a.m.

With rivals LaGrange and Troup up next week for the Lady Cavaliers before Region 5-AA play hits, Mapp and his young team need all the experience they can get.

“We’ve got a lot of opportunity for improvement,” said Mapp, whose team lost to Troup 12-1 on Wednesday. “We’ll need these games to get us better for region.”

All three local teams were were set to play at 4 p.m. today, with Callaway facing Manchester, LaGrange playing Kendrick and Troup squaring off with Hardaway.

At 7 p.m., Callaway plays Upson-Lee, LaGrange plays Pacelli and Troup plays Mary Persons.

At 9 a.m. Saturday, Callaway plays Walnut Grove, LaGrange plays Crawford County, and Troup plays Bowdon.