NATCHEZ — Carroll Jones Field at Duncan Park has been the site of quite a few baseball games in the past two weeks.

The field hosted the Dixie Youth 10-year-old District 6 Sub-District Tournament, Game 1 of the 11-year-old district series and will host Game 1 of the 10-year-old district series between Natchez and McComb at 7 p.m. today.

And when that much baseball is played on one field in a short amount of time, it takes an army of volunteers to make everything run smoothly.

And that’s exactly what tournament director Porky Smith says he has had.

“You can’t have a tournament like we had if you don’t have plenty of good help,” Smith said. “It made things easier for me and kept the games moving.”

The volunteers include, ticket takers and grounds crew members.

“The guys who have worked the gate for me, Tim and Mark McCann and Brian Adams, have done a super job,” Smith said. “We’ve kept things pretty much on schedule.”

The volunteer effort began on a Sunday night, five days before the 10-year-old sub-district tournament began.

The parents of all 12 players on the 10-year-old roster came out to help get the field ready for the tournament.

“We spent four or five hours out there busting our tails,” head groundskeeper for the tournament Billy Calcote said. “All 12 groups of parents showed up. They did a great job working on the field, adding dirt and doing what they had to do.”

Calcote coached a team in the Natchez Dixie Youth league this year, and when tournament time came, gladly volunteered his time along with Jimmy Moffett.

“This is my part in helping,” Calcote said. “Gary (Farmer) and them are coaches for the All-Star team, and I said I’ll do my part by making sure the field looks as good as it can look.”

Calcote’s crew includes himself, his sons Casey and Josh, Jimmy and James Moffett, William Barnes, Daniel Guedon and Trevor Farmer, among others.

“It helps our kids,” Calcote said of his crew’s work on the field. “Our kids play on a good ballfield. If you go to different areas, some of the fields don’t look as good. We want people coming into Natchez saying that was a nice-looking field we’re playing on.”