T-L Photo/JOSIE BURKHART Players practice on the cornhole boards before playing in the tournament Friday night at the Betty Zane Days festival.

MARTINS FERRY — THe festivities turned competitive at Betty Zane Days on Friday night as the annual cornhole tournament got underway.

A total of 21 people had signed up for the tournament before the starting time of 7 p.m.

Justin Matz, captain of the Martins Ferry Volunteer Fire Department Vigilant Engine Company, said participants always have a good time playing.

“Usually if the weather cooperates after we’re done with that, we keep going,” he said. “We’ve been out here until 2 in the morning before.”

The tournament works the same way a bracket for basketball would. Players are randomly put together with a teammate from a blind draw, being picked out of a hat essentially, Matz said. The tournament is a double elimination event, with losers going into a loser’s bracket after their first loss.

Unified Bank donated $500 for the tournament, but the money is split among first, second and third place finishers. The winner received $250 dollars, while second place received $150 and third place $100.

Participants come from all over, including Chester and Cameron, West Virginia, according to Jeff Germann, co-organizer of the tournament. He said he keeps score through an app called Scoreholio, which can be used for playing in the backyard with a free play option as well. Germann said there is a lot of talent around the region when it comes to cornhole players, but nobody realizes it. One of the talented people who participates in the tournament every year is Tim Shepherd, referred to as a “beast” by Matz.

Shepherd enjoys throwing the bags and tries to participate in any cornhole game he can, he said.

“We come here for this festival, different clubs and throw,” Shepherd said. “Larger events like the (American Cornhole League), we’ve done a number of those. So if I go on vacation, I look for a place to throw.”

Throwing in the tournament along with Shepherd was Randy Becker. Becker said he’d been coming to the tournament for a few years.

“It’s something to keep competitive. After you can’t do the physical stuff anymore, something to get the competitive juices flowing. And you know, practice with,” Becker said “Anybody can be good. Every time you step up, you’ve got to prove yourself, so it’s not like somebody can just, you know, skip through and be OK. You’ve got to be on it all the time.”

Becker noted it’s always exciting when he can play cornhole in the community.

“Having stuff a little bit more local that you can come out to rather than driving up to Pittsburgh, Columbus or up to Steubenville,” he said. “It’s always exciting. Always try to make it an event that people are excited to come out to as well.”

While participants were busy playing cornhole Friday evening, others enjoyed their time at the festival including high school students Maleaah Peterson and Jaylah Byrd who were there to eat pizza and hang out with friends.

Families made their way to the festival as well, including sisters Ashley and Jess Miller. While Jess comes to the festival every year, she invited Ashley who had never attended before.

Ashley came to see what was going on, she said, and the sisters came to let their kids have fun and hang out.

“They do this every year,” Jess said. “It’s usually really fun.”

Martins Ferry residents weren’t the only ones to attend Betty Zane Days on Friday night, but Roger “Beatle” Bowers and Del Palombo from South Wheeling visited the festival they enjoy every year.

The two said they appreciate Betty Zane Days because it is something to do rather than sit in the house. They said they’ve been enjoying the food, and Bowers mentioned that the Ideal Provisions food truck had the best food at the festival.

“It’s pretty much like a family thing,” Bowers said. “Everybody gets together after not being together for a while. It’s fun.”