Beeland Park Complex will soon become a diamond-shaped battleground for the Greenville Parks and Recreation Department’s annual Pitch, Hit and Run competition.

The contest, set for both boys and girls ages 7-14, is a time-honored tradition that has been held in the Camellia City for nearly two decades.

The Pitch, Hit and Run competition tests youth with an integrated competition that challenges individual excellent in three core baseball skills.

The pitching contest will have participants throwing at a target from a predetermined distance, and the one with the highest number of hits on target will win.

The hitting leg of the competition is done from a tee and requires accuracy as much as distance.

Guidelines will be place straight through the pitcher’s mound and second base well into the outfield, and the goal is to hit the ball as close to the guides as possible, as there will be deductions for how many feet the ball lands either to the left or right of the goal.

The running is the most straightforward of all, as competitors will be timed on a sprint from a leadoff position from second base to home plate.

All of the events are individually scored and converted to a total point score.

Children will compete in four different age groups: 8 and under, 9-10, 11-12 and 13-14, and age is determined as of July 17, 2015.

Participation is free, though all participants must provide a copy of a valid birth certificate for age verification.

No metal spikes are allowed during any portion of the competition, and using them will result in a score deduction.

But the local phase of the Major League Baseball-sponsored competition is only the beginning.

The boys and girls winners of their respective age groups will advance to Dothan for the sectional portion, and then to the grandest stage of them all—Atlanta’s Turner Field.

Winners in Dothan will be pitted against winners from the neighboring states of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, where only three first-place winners from each age and gender group will be chosen to advance to the championship round.

Winning sectionals doesn’t guarantee a place in the team championship.

The Greenville area has produced four winners in the past 15 years to make it to the final leg of the competition.

Registration is scheduled for Wednesday, April 22 at 4 p.m.

For more information, contact the Greenville Parks and Recreation Department at (334) 382-3031.