The four-day tournament will be played at Gameday Baseball's First Tennessee Fields in Memphis from August 21-24 and will crown national champions in the 10-under and 12-under divisions, which include more than 100,000 teams. Future plans call for the tournament to include as many as eight different age groups.
The Southern Jaguars, coached by Ron Smith, went 7-1 in a 16-team tournament in Southhaven, Mississippi, to crown the 10-under champion. They were 3-1 in pool play and 4-0 in single-elimination bracket games.
In the championship game vs. Team Collierville of Collierville, Tennessee on July 4, Jaguars SS Brandon Singleton snapped an 8-8 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning with a one-out, bases-loaded "walk-off" single. Third Baseman Daniel Kinchen had doubled with one out and stole third before Collierville issued two intentional walks to load the bases.
"We are very excited to be part of the first National Youth Baseball Championships," said Coach Smith. "It didn't really sink in when we won such an incredible game that we would be going on to play for a national title. But I started getting all kinds of phone calls that night. It's really something special and it's a testament to the hard work of our kids and their parents.'
The Jaguars, in their first season of Travel Baseball, overcame a 5-1 third-inning deficit en route to the victory. A three-run home run by Kinchen cut the Collierville lead to 5-4 and a four-run fourth inning gave the Jaguars a short-lived 8-6 lead before the game was tied in the fifth. Jordan Thomas relieved Smith on the mound in the sixth and pitched a scoreless inning to record the win.
In winning the NABF's 12-under championship, the East Cobb Astros outscored their opponents 87-25 in the six-game tournament which concluded on Sunday, July 13 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. They were 3-0 on pool play and 3-0 in bracket games.
"I am thrilled that our team is participating in this tournament to determine a national 12-under champion," said coach Jeff Stern. "I have been part of travel baseball for 15 years and have always wanted to see something like this. I'm very happy it has finally come to fruition and that our team will be a part of it."
The Jaguars, 54-20-2 during the 2008 season, placed six players on the NABFs all-tournament team: Catcher Hunter Fortner, first baseman Lucas Cadalzo, third baseman Brady Smith, outfielder Jacob Heyward, pitcher Andrew Foush and utility player Matthew Hammers.
The "National Youth Baseball Championships" will be the initial effort of the "Major Youth Baseball Alliance, LLC." The MYBA is a newly formed company comprised of eight major youth organizations, including AABC (American Amateur Baseball Congress), AAU (Amateur Athletic Union of the United States), Babe Ruth Baseball, Dixie Youth Baseball, NABF (National Amateur Baseball Federation), Pony Baseball, Super Series Baseball of America and USSSA (United States Specialty Sports Association).
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