CRANBERRY TWP — 173 teams, 21 fields, three counties ... To say the Battle of the Burgh has grown would not be doing it justice.

The 22nd annual weekend girls fast-pitch softball tournament begins Friday morning and ends Sunday night. Teams ranging from 8-under to 18-under will be coming in from nine states and Canada.

“Guy Demaio, an ASA softball official from New Castle, started this event and it had maybe 18 teams in its first year,” said Warren Pirring, president of the Pittsburgh Power softball organization. “It's steadily grown through word of mouth.

“We'll begin games on 21 fields at 8 a.m. Friday. The last games will be played at 9:30 p.m. Sunday and games will go on every hour and 20 minutes in between. It's absolutely crazy.”

Pittsburgh Power players and their parents help maintain the fields throughout the weekend, grooming them before every game.

Pirring said “the ASA tells me this has become the largest fast-pitch tournament in all of Pennsylvania.

“Teams hear how well-run the event is and they want to become a part of it,” he added. “We had 130 teams last year and didn't think we could go any bigger. Now we're at 173 and entries have been closed since February.”

Teams have entered the Battle of the Burgh from Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Connecticut, Michigan and Illinois. Two teams are from Canada.

Five fields in Zelienople, five at Cranberry Park, two in Graham Park, two Pride fields off Route 19, three fields in Blueberry Park and three in Beaver County will be among the game sites.

The championship games will be played Sunday night at Blueberry Park.

“All teams are guaranteed at least five games,” Pirring said. “Each team will have four games of pool play, then all teams are seeded for a single-elimination tournament.

“It will take some teams as many as six (tournament) wins to get the title.”

There are seven teams in the 8-under bracket, 19 in 10-under, 32 in 12-under, 44 in 14-under, 42 in 16-under and 29 in 18-under.

The tournament is taking up 1,003 motel rooms in Butler County for the weekend.

“People are going to see softball players all over restaurants over the next few days,” Pirring said.

Some Butler County players are with the Pittsburgh Power, Pride and Spirit softball organizations, all of which are playing in this tournament.

The tourney will kick off this year with a college coaches clinic from 5 to 9 p.m. today at Blueberry Hill Park in Sewickley. There are 170 players signed up for that clinic, which will feature coaches from North Carolina AT&T, Robert Morris, Bridgewater, Chatham, Penn State Behrend, Penn State Beaver, Geneva, Thiel, Carlow, Bethany and Mercyhurst.

“As long as the weather holds, we'll be in good shape for the weekend. We're ready to go,” Pirring said.