At the same time workers were busy putting some finishing touches on the grounds of the "Field of Dreams" complex in Boardman, workers at area hotels were sprucing-up their own properties, getting ready to host thousands of guests.

Workers at the Holiday Inn Express in North Lima tell us they're booked solid for the next two weeks, all thanks to the annual "Pony League" girls' softball tournament beginning this Friday.  More than two hundred and thirty teams from around the country will be playing for at least the next two weeks, each bringing close to fifty people per team, counting players, coaches and family members.

Officials admit the high cost of gas has reduced the size of this year's roster of teams, but Phil Moore of Mahoning County's Tourism and Visitors' Bureau predict the tournament will bring up to ten million dollars for the local economy.

While organizers say the quality of Boardman's fields helps lure the tournament back each summer, money raised by local concessions helped pay for new dugouts around each of the softball fields being used this year.  Meantime, hotel workers think their amenities give teams reason enough to book their stays up to a year in advance.

Which could also mean added income for businesses that happen to be located near the hotels.

And when we say every local hotel is sold out, we mean all of them.  The convention and visitor's bureau says some of the people attending the Pony League tournament will be staying as far away as Akron and Western Pennsylvania because there's nothing closer.

In fact, Phil Moore tells me his staff has been getting calls from people planning their weddings and family reunions these next few weeks, complaining they can't find anywhere to stay.