DUBOIS, Pa (WJAC) — This week, twenty college baseball and softball teams will compete in a four-day tournament within the city of DuBois in hopes of beating teams from all across the country.

Officials say the tournament's impact extends beyond the field.

Hundreds of baseball and softball players have descended on DuBois to participate in the Small College World series.

"It's just it's a really unique environment. It's one of the benefits of being able to come into a small town and host a huge event,” says USCAA Chief Operating Officer BJ Bertges.

For another year, the United States Collegiate Athletic Association brought the Small College World Series back to DuBois.

Ten baseball and ten softball teams will play in Clearfield County and this year, Penn State DuBois baseball is looking to emerge at the top for the fifth time in six years.

Head coach Tom Calliari says the tournament brings more than just baseball to the community.

"I think it does a lot economically for the communities in Clearfield County. I think it brings a lot of people together. If anybody was here to the game last night, they would understand the community support, the togetherness of the community campus, everybody working together to make something special."

The tournament started Monday and ends Thursday; USCAA Chief Operating Officer BJ Bertges says DuBois having multiple fields in close proximity makes this event special, compared to other sports.

"When they started talking about bringing this event, they pretty much said 'we're going to build these facilities. What if you brought baseball and softball to us?' Because we used to host those separately. We used to have a softball national championship and baseball national championship. And I said, ‘if we build these fields, we bring them both.’ And it was kind of the birth of that festival style event. And we'd only ever been able to do that with basketball."

Bertges says the relationship the USCAA has with the city of DuBois has helped grow the tournament to its status today.

Even though Penn State DuBois baseball team has won four of the last five championships, and is going for their fifth, they still have to qualify every single year despite it being hosted in DuBois, because that keeps the spirit of competition going.

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