SPRINGDALE – The Springdale 12-Year-Old Cal Ripken All-Stars will be the most rested of the 10 teams that comprise the field in the Southwest Regional Tournament this week.
The local team drew an automatic bid to the regionals and didn’t have to advance through district and state levels like most of the other teams.
“We don’t have a whole lot of glamour,” Springdale coach Richard Emerson said. “The boys have worked hard, and we’re ready to see how we do.”
Springdale’s team is comprised of 13 players. Emerson said about half of the squad has experience playing in travel leagues, while the other half consists of players with local league experience.
“We have about four really good pitchers,” Emerson said. “I think we’re up to the challenge. We’ve been practicing for about a month, and we’ve scrimmaged a couple of times.”
The tournament is the final stop before the Cal Ripken World Series in Aberdeen, Md. Games will be played at the Tyson Sports Complex on the two southern fields starting at 6 p.m. tonight.
The 10-team field includes squads from Little Rock, Mountain Home, Bryant, Fort Smith and Madison County in Arkansas, along with teams from Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas.
The Springdale team will take on Southeastern Oklahoma at 8:30 p.m. today. There are four games starting at 6 p.m. today. The tournament will continue through Tuesday’s championship games.
12-Year-Old Cal Ripken Southwest Regional
At Tyson Sports Complex, Springdale
Friday
Game 1: Madison Co. vs. Little Rock, 6 p.m. (SE)
Game 2: Southeastern Okla. vs. Springdale. 8:30 p.m. (SW)
Game 3: FS Church League vs. Bryant, 8:30 p.m. (SE)
Game 4: Mountain Home vs. Twin Rivers, La., 6 p.m. (SW)
Saturday
Game 5: Andrews, Texas vs. Winner Game 1, 5:30 p.m. (SE)
Game 6: Orange Grove, Miss. vs. Winner Game 2, 5:30 p.m. (SW)
Game 7: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 2, 8 p.m. (SW)
Game 8: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 4, 8 p.m. (SE)
Sunday
Game 9: Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 5, 3:30 p.m. (SW)
Game 10: Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 6, 3:30 p.m. (SE)
Game 11: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5, 1 p.m. (SW)
Game 12: Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 4, 1 p.m. (SE)
Game 13: Winner Game 10 vs. Loser Game 11, 6 p.m. (SE)
Game 14: Winner Game 9 vs. Loser Game 12, 6 p.m. (SW)
Monday
Game 15: Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12, 3 p.m. (SW)
Game 16: Winner Game 13 vs. Winner Game 14, 5:30 p.m. (SW)
Game 17: Winner Game 16 vs. Loser Game 15, 8 p.m. (SW)
Tuesday
Championship Game
Game 18: Winner Game 15 vs. Winner Game 17, TBD (SW)
Game 19: Winner Game 18 vs. Loser Game 18, TBD (SW)
– if necessary
SW – Southwest Field
SE – Southeast Field