The Austin Greyhounds are set to host the 8th annual SpamTown Challenge at Marcusen Park and Riverland Community College this Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Like always, the tournament is bringing together the top amateur basbeall teams from Minnesota and some teams from Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa and South Dakota together.

“We have a lot of great teams coming once again and we actually had to turn away some good teams,” Hounds manager John Frein said.

The Hounds (4-2 overall) have had the start of their season slowed down by a lot of rain-outs as they prepare to try and get out of Pool ‘A,’ which includes the Greyhounds, the Austin Blue Sox (4-2 overall), the Appleton, Wis. Legends (17-1 overall) and the Westmont, Ill. Red Sox (6-6 overall).

The winners of the pools will square of in the semifinals Sunday at 9 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. in Marcusen Park and the title game is set for 1:30 p.m.

“We always want to play on that last day and we think we have a pretty good shot this year,” Frein said.

This year’s tournament features a matchup between the Hounds and Blue Sox as they will square off Saturday at 6:15 p.m. After that game, there will be live music playing during the game between the Rochester Royals and Cedar Rapids.

“We wanted to mix it up a little bit and play the Blue Sox in the tournament,” Frein said. “We’re hoping that Saturday night game draws a lot of fans from both teams.”

Daily Admission for the tournament is $5 for adults and all-tournament passes are available for $12.

PAST TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS

2005: Rochester Royals; 2006: Sparta, Wis. Millers: 2007; Minnetonka MIllers; 2008: Cold Spring Springers; 2009: Chicago Wildcats; 2010: Onalaska A’s; 2012: Dundas Dukes; 2013: Minnetonka Millers