Posted 1:33 am Saturday, July 23, 2011
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Teams Creating Buzz In Bullard With Trips To State Tournaments
While the Little League organization is holding one of its state tournaments in Tyler this weekend, the Texas Teenage Baseball/Softball Association will be conducting its state tournaments throughout Texas.
And the city of Bullard has a huge presence in the tournaments.
While Bullard has had its fair share of standout baseball players over the years (Brodie Greene, Chad Sherman, Nick Rumbelow just to name a few) it appears the area will have a quite a few more in the coming years.
Seven squads will be taking part in state tournaments. Those include:
• Freshman Girls -- Bullard Xtreme (state tournament in Mineola);
• Junior Girls -- Bullard Heat (state tournament in Belton);
• T-Ball Boys -- Bullard Bulldogs (state tournament in Jacksonville);
• Machine Pitch Boys -- Bullard Rangers (state tournament in Redwater);
• Senior Midget Boys -- Bullard Outlaws (state tournament in Whitehouse);
• Freshman Boys -- Bullard Texans (state tournament in Ennis);
• Sophomore Boys -- Bullard Red Sox (state tournament in Hillsboro).
The TTA is celebrating over 50 years for baseball and softball for boys and girls ages 5-18.
The organization, which is headquartered in Brownwood, said it is dedicated to the principals of fair play, teamwork, and sportsmanship. It is somewhat different than Little League in that the top two teams advance to the playoffs and have the option to pick up three players from within their league to compete at district and then state. There are 12 districts in the state and the winners of the district advance to the state tournament.
The TTA covers most of Texas -- with some 300 different cities involved and close to 2000 teams.
The boys' divisions include: T-Ball (ages 6 and under), Machine Pitch (8 and under), Junior Midget (8 and under), Midget (9 and under), Senior Midget (10 and under), Freshman Tight Base (12 and under), Freshman Open Base (12 and under), Sophomore (14 and under), Junior (15 and under) and High School Eligible (open to players with at least one year of eligibility remaining in high school).
The girls' softball divisions include: T-Ball (ages 6 and under), Coach Pitch (8 and under), Midget (10 and under), Freshman (12 and under), Junior (15 and under) and High School Eligible (open to players with at least one year of eligibility remaining in high school).
The boys' state tournaments include: T-Ball (Jacksonville), Machine Pitch (Redwater), Junior Midget (Clifton), Midget (Eastland), Senior Midget (Whitehouse), Freshman Tight Base (Harker Heights), Freshman Open Base (Ennis), Sophomore Boys (Hillsboro), Junior Boys (Athens) and High School Eligible (Hillsboro).
The girls' state tournaments include: T-Ball (Holland), Coach Pitch (Athens), Midget (Brownwood), Freshman Girls (Mineola), Junior Girls (Belton) and High School Eligible (Brownwood).
The tournament in Whitehouse is scheduled to begin Monday and continues through Friday, while the boys tournament in Athens begins Monday and concludes on Thursday.
The Whitehouse Baseball Softball League is asking for volunteers for the tournament. They need help with score keeping, field maintenance, the concession stand, picking up trash, parking, and making sure the umpires, scorekeepers, and teams have plenty of hydration.
Games are scheduled to begin each day at 5 p.m. and continue to around 11 p.m. The tournament draw is scheduled for Sunday.
The area can see a lot of fun and entertaining baseball in the next few days.
