(Betsy Bloom/Daily News photo) Willy Fontana of Escanaba touches up the scoreboard at Felch Memorial Field in Felch in advance of the 2020 Labor Day Championship hardball tournament. The scoreboard was moved form its former location, as part of the improvements made to the facility.

FELCH — Labor Day hardball in the ‘Northwoods’ is back again this year. The 2020 Felch Labor Day Championship will be held this weekend at Felch Memorial Field.

The tournament will be a double-elimination format with 12 to 13 games being played over the holiday weekend, Friday through Monday.

There will be one first round game held on Friday at 5 p.m. with Felch taking on Escanaba. A participant in the Superiorland Hardball League, Escanaba is new to the tournament, having not played in 2019.

The Felch squad will be past high school and American Legion players from the area, mostly ages 18 to 22. Chad Lindeman got the team together, but it will be coached by John Linn.

The remaining three days, games will begin at 10 a.m., with the last game on both Saturday and Sunday scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.

The Channing Railroaders will play Marquette, also a Superiorland Hardball League team, at 10 a.m. on Saturday. At noon on Saturday, Bonduel, Wis., the returning champions, will face tournament newcomer Belleville, Wis. Belleville, which is south of Madison, has a few players who have played in the tournament in the past, but it’s their first year entering as a team.

“Bonduel has come for most of the last four decades — 2019 was their first year winning the tournament, so we are glad they could come back,” said tournament director John Benzie.

The 2 p.m. Saturday game will be Team 906, returning from last year, taking on the winner of the Friday evening game.

On championship Monday, the schedule will be 10 a.m., noon, and the championship game is scheduled for 2 p.m. The “if necessary” game would take place right after the 2 p.m. game is completed, if a tie-breaker game is needed to determine the champion.

“We should have a very competitive tournament this year,” said Benzie. “We would like to thank Felch Township for all of their support.”

Benzie noted that despite the pandemic and the financial troubles it caused some groups or organizations, the township put up a brand new fence all the way around the field.

“The whole community is really proud of it, and we’re real excited to showcase the field, and the changes we made,” Benzie said.

Around 1:45 p.m. on Monday there will be a special presentation for two long-time Felch tournament supporters, Warren “Windy” Wickman, and former Felch Rangers Wishigan League team manager Andy Anderson, both of Felch.