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Greensboro may play host to an ACC baseball tournament after all. And if it happens, it would be sooner rather than later.

Fenway Sports Group, originally scheduled to conduct the 2009 tournament at its hallowed Boston grounds, stunned the conference Thursday by announcing it has discovered a scheduling snafu and can't hold the tournament until 2010. The move opens the selection process at a late hour, and the Greensboro Grasshoppers are jumping in.

"Yeah, we're very interested," said Donald Moore, the team's chief operating officer.

It won't be easy. Moore said the South Atlantic League's tentative schedule for 2009, expected to be released Friday, has the Hoppers playing at home May 20, the first day of the five-day tournament.

The team has asked the league to consider reworking things to open May 20-24 at NewBridge Bank Park, but doing so would ultimately impact three or four other teams.

Jacksonville, Fla., which beat out Greensboro in the most recent open bidding process, was the tournament host in recent years, but could face the same obstacles as Greensboro for 2009. Its park is the home of the Jacksonville Suns of the Class AA Southern League, and it was not immediately known if the Suns would have a scheduling conflict.

"It's disappointing that this scheduling error has resulted in the upcoming championship not being played at Fenway Park, but we look forward to being at Fenway in 2010," said John D. Swofford, the ACC's commissioner. "In terms of this year's event, we are moving swiftly to find a quality venue to host one of our premier conference championships."

Contact Rob Daniels at 373-7028 or rob.daniels@news-record.com