RAPID CITY - Seventy-two ASA softball teams will be in Rapid City to play in the largest girls fastpitch softball tournament of the year this weekend.

The 14th annual Rushmore Classic continues to grow in popularity and competition with its first-ever sellout for the weekend action at the Star of the West Softball Complex and the Parkview Softball Complex.

"Last year, we had 60 teams and this year we are up 72 with eight teams on the wait list and 20 or so more that have called to see if they can get in," tournament co-director Rick DenHerder said. "If we had the field space and time we could have over 100 teams at this tournament."

The tournament features five divisions - U-10, U-12, U-14, U-16 and U-18 - with teams being broke into pools of four. Pool play is set for all day Saturday beginning at 8 a.m. with the top two teams in each pool advancing to Sunday's first division and the next two teams going to the second division.

A total of 108 games will be played at the Star of the West on Saturday and 36 at Parkview where the U-10s and U-18s will play. Sunday's action, which will include championship games in all five divisions, will number 62 games.

Seventeen Rapid City teams will compete this weekend along with teams from Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska and several Sioux Falls teams.

"The level of competition has continued to improve and I think this has a chance to be one of the most competitive tournaments we have had," DenHerder said. "A lot of Rapid City teams have done more traveling to Wyoming, Montana and Colorado and so a lot of those teams are coming to this tournament.

"A lot of those teams like coming to the Black Hills and come in early to do some sightseeing."

For the second year, Scheels is the title sponsor for the tournament, which has 90 volunteers help things move smoothly, and according to DenHerder one of the big reasons for its growth.

"The winning team in each division gets a performance bat, and that is a big deal because a good bat can easily cost $200," DenHerder said. "They also sponsor a barbecue that we host on Saturday night. We did that last year for the first time and it was a big success so we are doing it again. They also do drawings for prizes and help run the tournament."

All of the proceeds from the tournament are donated to the Children's Miracle Network.