BAA youth baseball teams in the midst of post-season play

The Bryant Athletic Association youth all-star teams have been battling in their respective Babe Ruth/Cal Ripkin State tournaments in the last two weeks, highlighted by a championship for the 8-and-under team, coached by Bill Lloyd, at Sylvan Hills.

Along with the 7-year-old teams, the 8’s played in both pitching machine and coach-pitch tournaments. The 8’s won the pitching machine title and finished second in the coach-pitch tourney. The 7’s, coached by Brandon McNabb finished second in both machine- and coach-pitch tournaments.

The Bryant 6’s, coached by Matt Orender finished second in the 6-and-under State, held in Benton. The 5’s, coached by Brandon Nichols and playing in the 6-and-under State, did not place.

The older teams are currently involved in their tournaments. The 9’s, coached by  Rick Brown, play in the finals tonight in El Dorado while the 10’s, coached by Greg Riggs, are set for a semifinal contest in Lonoke today. The Bryant 12’s, coached by Paul Speer, are also in the finals today at Bishop Park.

Both Bryant 14- and 15-and-under All-Stars will play in the State tournament held at Bishop Park starting this week. The 14’s are coached by Michael Catton. The 15’s will be coached by Darren Hurt and Jerry East.

All teams will advance to play in Regionals. The 5’s and 6’s will be in Sherwood. The 7’s head to Daphne, Ala., along with the 8’s. The 9’s will be in D’Iberville, Miss. The 10’s will be in Seminole, Texas while the 12’s will head to Siloam Springs.

As for the 14’s and 15’s, they’ll be playing in the 15-and-under Babe Ruth tourney at Pine Bluff, starting July 18. All the other Regionals start July 10 except for the 10’s in Texas, which will begin on July 11.