In December 2008, Stephen D. Keener, President and Chief Executive Officer of Little League Baseball and Softball, announced that the 2009 Little League Southeast Regional Tournaments in baseball and softball will be played at Mitch Stadium in Ceredo-Kenova, WV. 

“Ceredo-Kenova and Mitch Stadium have a long tradition when it comes to Little League,” Mr. Keener said. “We’re grateful to all the volunteers in the area for stepping up so that the Southeast Regional Tournaments will have a temporary home in 2009 that rises to the level we expect from these events.”

The Little League Softball Regional Tournament will be played July 30-Aug. 4 with the champion advancing to the annual Little League Softball World Series in Portland, OR. The Little League Baseball Regional Tournament, with the final game to be televised nationally on the ESPN family of networks, will be played Aug. 7-14.  The winner of that tournament advances to the annual Little League Baseball World Series in Williamsport, Pa. 

Since 1967, the Little League Baseball Southern (later Southeast) Region Tournament had been held at the Regional Headquarters in St. Petersburg, Fla.  The regional softball tournament had been held there since 2005.  The former Regional Headquarters was sold to the local school board, and Warner Robins, GA was selected as the new site for the Southeast Regional Headquarters and will annually host the regional tournaments starting in 2010.  While the new facility in Warner Robins is being prepared, Mitch Stadium will serve as host for the tournaments in 2009.

The states of the Southeast Region which will each send a state champion to the baseball and softball tournaments are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Mitch Stadium was named in honor of Elmer "Big Mitch" Mitchell, a Kenova police officer who served as groundskeeper, concessionaire, and general sage of the Ceredo-Kenova Little League from 1957 until his death in 1981.  Mitch Stadium hosted the 1968 Divisional Tournament under Little League's International Tournament previous format, and has hosted the 9-10 Year-Old Tournament of State Champions invitational tournament since 2005.