FAYETTEVILLE — Some of the top 16-and-under baseball teams from this region will descend upon Northwest Arkansas for the third consecutive year this week.
Approximately 40 teams from eight different states will compete at various sites around the area in the Premier Baseball National Sophomore Championship.
Pool play begins Wednesday at sites in Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, Van Buren and Fort Smith.
The field includes a Fayetteville High team, which could give Bulldogs baseball coach Vance Arnold a look at possible varsity players for next season.
“We’ve got about seven or eight pitchers and this will be a great test for them to see if they are varsity material,” Arnold said.
A great test indeed, since many of the teams Fayetteville will face are select squads. “We’re just playing our high school kids, but we played a team last year that I think every player on their team was from a different high school,” Arnold said.
It will also be the first time those players will be together this summer since many were split among two teams in the Ozark Wood/Metal Bat League. In addition, some were occupied with 7-on-7 football or other sports, Arnold said.
Arnold acknowledged he promoted this tournament as an opportunity to his players. “Some played in it last year as freshmen and they didn’t know what they were getting into,” Arnold said.
“But we practiced last week to get ready.”
Arnold said it was a good opportunity for his players, particularly one like Austin Allen, who will be a sophomore in the fall.
Allen was a surprise as one of the Purple Bulldogs’ top hitters as a freshman and starter at second base in the spring. Allen is one of those players who has spent much of summer with 7-on-7 football, but Arnold believes he can shine.
“He was our second leading hitter as a freshman,” Arnold said. “Austin is one of those kids who could do either one.”
Kent Ariola, who coached Fayetteville’s sophomores, will coach the team this week, but Arnold will help out along with the rest of his staff.
The Austin (Texas) Slam Braves won the event a year ago, knocking off the Texas Stix in the championship game.
Tournament Director Don Patty didn’t want to name a favorite in this year’s event, but pointed out a good place to start is last year’s finalists in the freshman championship.
Two teams from the Dallas-Fort Worth area’s DBAT Baseball Mustang Baseball Club faced off in last year’s freshman championship game. DBAT McCabe knocked off DBAT Phillips.
Pool play continues through Thursday, when teams are reseeded into championship and consolation pools. The top two teams in each of 10 pools plus the next four best records advance to championship pools. There will be six four-team pools.
That leaves 16 teams (four pools of four) in the consolation pools.
Six pool winners plus the next two best finishers advance to the quarterfinals Saturday night.
The semifinals and finals are slated for Sunday in Baum Stadium with the finals set for 2 p.m.
At A Glance
Premier Baseball National Sophomore Championship
WHEN: Wednesday-Sunday
WHERE: Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, Van Buren and Fort Smith
WHAT: Field includes 40 of the top 16-and-under baseball teams from eight different states and Ontario, Canada.
NOTABLE: It’s the third consecutive year for Northwest Arkansas to host this tournament, which was won by the Austin (Texas) Slam last year. … The championship bracket semifinals and finals will be played Sunday in Baum Stadium in Fayetteville.