Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : One City That’s Eager to Play Ball : Economy: Officials say hosting adult softball tournaments could bring in as much as $4 million from local tourism.

Forget the baseball strike. While fans wait for an end to that stubborn dispute, Lancaster officials hope to cash in on a quiet cousin of the national pastime: softball.

This year, the city will host 27 adult softball tournaments, attracting players from Southern California and neighboring states.

The economic windfall for local hotels, restaurants and other businesses will amount to far more than peanuts and Cracker Jacks, city officials said Wednesday.

Using a formula prepared by the American Softball Assn., officials predicted that 6,000 out-of-town players will spend more than $4 million in their high desert city this year.

“This is not small business,” said Mayor Frank Roberts. “This is big business. This is new money coming in and staying.”

Roberts and three other City Council members gathered at Lancaster City Park Wednesday to view new promotional signs being posted to trumpet Lancaster’s role as a softball center. The diamond-shaped markers, resembling traffic signs, call attention to the tournament season and playfully warn passersby to “Watch for flying softballs!!”

The city also unveiled a color brochure touting its assets: the 70-acre park’s six lighted softball diamonds and the 10-cage commercial batting range, where players can practice their swings.

Local officials say softball is a lucrative way to boost sales at Lancaster businesses, which have been hurt by aerospace cutbacks and the region’s sagging economy.

When softball players and their families visit the city for the weekend tournaments, they usually spend two nights in local motels, dine at local restaurants and visit local shopping centers, city officials say.

Each team--typically 15 to 20 players--spends $8,613 in a host community when it enters a tournament, according to the American Softball Assn. Lancaster officials say 473 out-of-town teams will participate in 27 local tournaments between now and November, boosting the city’s economy by just over $4 million.

Even if these figures are a bit optimistic, softball tournaments are warmly welcomed by the local hotel owners, said Silvia Callicutt, director of sales at the 144-room Desert Inn in Lancaster.

Callicutt said her hotel caters primarily to weekday business travelers and often has many empty rooms on weekends. Yet when weekend softball tournaments have come to town, the hotel sometimes fills, she said.

Restaurants and retail shops also benefit, Callicutt said. “It does help our city,” she said. “They’re going to spend money here. They’re not going to just stay in their hotel rooms.”