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When the bats have been put away and the day's games are done, teams leave the Beast of the East tournament fields in droves, and often as a team, to refuel for the next day.
Local businesses owners say the participants in the Beast are a huge boon to business, and that if their restaurants can accommodate 20 to 40 players, coaches and parents at a time, they're thrilled for the crowds which came in over the weekend.
Jim Pulice, executive manager of T.J.'s Sports Garden in Wheeling, enthusiastically said he looks forward to the annual Beast of the East, which brings in droves of customers and bumps up his staffing requirements.
"I get an increase in traffic of about 20 percent," Pulice said. "We welcome all baseball teams from however far they come from, and make sure I bump up my staff, order extra food, try to accommodate the parties. The teams come in groups from 20 people to, one I have coming in (Friday) tonight can be as much as 40.
"We try to strategically accommodate everyone, but sometimes they have to just sit wherever," he added. "We do a special, discount chicken tender dinner -- young kids tend to like chicken and fries, pizzas, so we try to offer that."
The long holiday weekend also contributed to the Beast rush in many places. Eric Dutton, manager of the St. Clarisville Outback Steakhouse, said it was common business practice to monitor for local events going on and schedule accordingly.
"We get busy every year due to (Beast of the East)," Dutton said. "We bump up our staffing, same as we do for any 'restaurant holidays.' We keep an eye on what's going on locally anyway. Before, with Jamboree in the Hills, I'd bump up our lunch staff, while dinner wasn't the norm, because everyone would be already out there. Same for Beast of the East. I know, if I'm normally running 15 servers, I'm adding an extra three to accommodate them all.
"Since it's sports teams, most of the time they don't mind being split up; I try to get the teams together, parents and coaches will kind of sit aside … Although most Outbacks are not set up for large parties, we do a lot of them. As long as they know we're taking care of the team, parents and coaches don't mind being split off."
Dutton said that, of course, the tournament crowds are appreciated "without question."
D&J's Pizza, located just up the road from the Barnesville Parks and Recreation Center, also has seen a bump in traffic, as well as some new faces coming in.
"We've had good business the last couple days, Fourth of July weekend, and I think all the activity at the baseball fields invites people to come in, grab a bite and cool off," said manager Joey Ramsey.
"We've got a couple unfamiliar faces I haven't see in the shop before, a few new customers."
The Beast of the East tournament began Thursday and concluded Sunday evening.