ACCC Division II state baseball tourney being moved to Montgomery in April

For the first time since 1988, the ACCC Division II Baseball Tournament will be returning to Montgomery.

The tournament will be held April 23-27, 2025 and will be played at Historic Patterson Field in the capital city. The championship and "if necessary" game will be at Riverwalk Stadium, home of the Montgomery Biscuits.

For the past two years, the tournament has been played in Oxford, but according to ACCC Commissioner Dean Myrick, the change for 2025 was necessitated because of a scheduling conflict.

"When NASCAR released its spring race schedule, the race in Talladega was going to be held on the same weekend as the D-II tournament," Myrick said. "Within an hour and a half of the announcement, every hotel in Oxford, Birmingham, and the surrounding area was sold out."

Myrick emphasized it had nothing to do with the City of Oxford. It was simply a schedule change by NASCAR.

"Because of where Easter falls next year, they chose to back up their race by one week," Myrick said. "We considered several options — including changing the date — before settling on Patterson Field.

"The City of Montgomery and the Montgomery Chamber of Commerce have been great to work with throughout this process," Myrick added. "I can't thank them enough."

Myrick said Patterson Field has gone through a bunch a bunch of improvements. He also said several baseball coaches checked out the facility and it received their stamp of approval, so he is happy with the choice.

With the tournament being played in Montgomery, it is a lot more convenient for all of the Division II colleges. Only Bevill State is located north of Montgomery.

While the tournament will be played in Montgomery in 2025, no decision has been made about possibly moving the event long term. The ACCC is still under contract with the City of Oxford until 2027 for the Division I and Division II Tournaments.

Wallace is no stranger to playing and winning state championships at Patterson Field. Under former coach Sammy Frichter, Wallce won state championships in 1983 and 1987 and finished as runner-up in 1988 and 1987.