Registration is open until Monday, June 3, for the city of Sedona’s 2024 wood bat adult softball league.

“It’s a rec softball league,” Parks and Recreation Manager Josh Frewin said. “People are out there having fun, they’re obviously trying to win, but it’s just it’s a fun environment to come out and play whether you’re an experienced softball player or new to the game … I think it’s important as adults to still get out there, be active and do those things that you used to do growing up.”

The season starts in June and the postseason will finish at the end of August. Games are played on Thursday evenings at Posse Grounds Park and the practice schedule varies by team. Registered teams can ask city staff for the code to turn the lights on at the field in order to set their own practice schedules.

The cost of registering a team remains $250 to increase turnout, with no fees for individual players. Player turnout has been decreasing in recent years and was cited by the city as one of the reasons for the decision to convert the north softball field at Posse Grounds Park into pickleball courts.

However, the league has seen a more recent rebound in the number of players with seven teams fielded in 2023, which is up from five teams in 2022 and six teams in 2021.

“It had been down a little bit,” Frewin said. “We’re up to seven teams, which is decent, but I still would like to get a few more teams in there. We’ve reached out to all the former players to [distribute fliers]. We’ve put up some flyers around local restaurants, bars, grocery stores, have been promoting on social media.”

Players without a team can join a free agent list, a pool of players from which existing teams can draw.

“What was cool last year is we had enough players on that free agent list that we just madea team of those and it sounds like a lot of those guys are going to play on the same team again together this year,” Frewin said. “So it sounds like they made some new friendships.”

A Day in the West won the championship over The Dirty Rats last season, which also was the last season for long-serving umpire Noel Marquis, who completed two decades behind home plate for the league. Frewin said that the league is fully staffed for 2024 for umpires.

For more information or to register a team, visit sedonaaz.gov/sports, or to join the free agent list, email Carmen Brashier at cbrashier@sedonaaz.gov.