Steve Sanders Championship To Be Held at Fifth Third Park

The 2026 high school baseball season is just around the corner and as always will start off with the continuation of a long-standing Spartanburg County tradition – the annual Steve Sanders Preseason Baseball Tournament.

The tournament evolved as a vision for a county-wide tourney and came from another that was being played annually at Chapman High School named for Coach Jim Everhart. This yearly celebration of baseball in Spartanburg County was the first tournament of its kind – one in which all public schools in one county compete against one another in a singular pre-season event, in the state of South Carolina and has since grown to include schools from outside the county as well, going from just 9 teams to as many as 16 in recent years.

In 1996, the tourney was renamed to honor longtime Spartanburg Herald-Journal prep sportswriter Steve Sanders and continued to be a staple in the county up until 2013, when it was discontinued for almost a decade. In 2021, the high school baseball coaches of Spartanburg County unanimously agreed that the Steve Sanders Tournament should return and it has once again become a coveted point of pride for players and coaches alike in the area.

The tournament has been played at many amazing baseball venues within the county.  It has seen action at the storied Legion Ball Field in the cow pasture at Inman Mills, the namesake of which is also a nod to Jim Everhart as well as the hallowed ground of Duncan Park – which makes its return as a host site this year just in time to kick off the celebration of its 100th anniversary season. This year, there will be another Spartanburg venue making its Steve Sanders Tournament Debut: downtown’s Fifth Third Park – the home of the Hub City Spartanburgers.

This week, a moment years in the making happened as Spartanburgers General Manager Tyson Jeffers and tournament organizer/Broome Head Coach Ben Waddle finalized the details to have the stadium host its first-ever high school games as part of Steve Sanders Championship Monday – which had been played at Woodruff’s field in the interim since moving away from Duncan Park following the 2023 season.

“We were very fortunate that Ben connected with us to share about the Steve Sanders Tournament almost two years ago”, said Jeffers. “Once he did, we knew that we needed to find a way to be involved. Unfortunately, in 2025, we had not yet moved into Fifth Third Park when the tournament was happening, but we are so excited to have the opportunity to host the tournament’s Championship Day at Fifth Third Park this year. We look forward to providing the players and coaches with an amazing playing experience and helping them create lifelong memories together. Our hope is that Fifth Third Park can be a staple venue for this amazing tournament for years to come!”

Coach Waddle is also elated at the prospect of continuing to carry on the legacies of the Spartanburg County baseball legends the tournament honors and getting to bring Spartanburg’s tournament to the city’s ballpark.

“I am honored to be a part of this tournament”, said Waddle. “I had the privilege to coach against all the legends – Dean Jones, Bill Metcalf, and Eddie Cole, as well as work with Steve Sanders and Jim Everhart. It has been a true blessing and being able to continue their legacy through the tournament is important to me. Over the years, we have held games at Duncan Park and Inman Mills Park. Now we get to continue to set the standard for the tournament moving forward with bringing it to a spectacular new venue in Fifth Third Park – where the four site winners will get the chance to make history by being the first high schoolers to play in the new downtown facility and compete for the championship.”

The 2026 Steve Sanders Spartanburg County Preseason Baseball Tournament will be held from Friday, February 27th to Monday, March 2nd. It will feature a field of 14 teams split into four brackets, each of which will be hosted by a different school.

Eddie Cole Bracket (Boiling Springs)

BSHS, Blue Ridge, Chapman, and JL Mann

Bill Metcalf Bracket (Spartanburg, Duncan Park)

Spartanburg, Broome, Mauldin, and Blacksburg

Dean Jones Bracket (Chesnee)

CHS, Union County, and Gaffney

Jim Everhart Bracket (Byrnes)

JFBHS, Eastside, and St. Joe’s

Once again, the tournament will begin on the 27th of February with the first games set to start at 5:30 PM. More details on the rules and brackets will be published the week of.