News Flash: Snowden Grove Park - USSAA Fall Nationals Preview

The event may say “national,” but the final weekend of action at Snowden Grove Park in Southaven, Ms., is very much a “home turf” kind of affair for the Mid-South area’s elite teams as they move up the ladder in preparation for 2009.

The 74 teams that have entered in nine different categories are, by and large, from the Mid-South region – Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama and Louisiana. There is a smattering of teams from as far north as St. Louis and central Illinois, but this is largely a neighborhood war.

Several ranked teams from this past season are passing up this USSSA World Series qualifying event, notably the Memphis Tigers’ 16-under team that finished ninth in the 2008 15 rankings.

The highest ranked squad in the tournament is the Jackson (TN) Coyotes’ 13 squad, which finished its 12-year-old season ranked 13th nationally by TBS. The Coyotes’ program is the most heavily represented group in the tournament, with five squads entered in the 10 through 13 brackets. The Coyotes’ 11-under squad in this tournament was an honorable mention selection in the 2008 10-under poll.

There is a potentially interesting matchup in the 12-year-old Open bracket, where the hometown Mississippi Royals, ranked 21st in the 2008 11-year-old category, could meet up with the Viper Baseball Academy crew that was an honorable mention pick among the 11-year-old teams this past summer.

Dulin’s Dodgers from Memphis made the 15-under honorable mention team. They will enter that squad, now 16-unders, and their 14-under team, in the 13-team bracket for 16-under squads.

In the 10-under Major category, the Memphis Tigers program has two teams, Tigers and Tigers Gold.

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