Some of the finest amateur baseball players aged 19 and under (including some in college) will be playing in the annual Zone 4 District Tournament at Bryant High School Field starting today. The tournament will determine the league's two entries in the Senior American Legion State Tournament next weekend in North Little Rock.
The last two years, the State champion of Arkansas has advanced to the American Legion World Series, nearly doubling the number of World Series qualifiers from the state in nearly the last 100 years.
The host Bryant Black Sox, a team that still includes a quartet of players that were part of Bryant's 2007 run to the World Series, won their eighth straight regular-season Zone title, going unbeaten in the league for just the second time in the last 15 years. The Sox will open play in the Zone Tournament on Saturday at 1 p.m. Despite the Sox' run, the six-team tournament appears to be as competitive as ever. Seeding for the tournament came down to the very last game earlier this week.
Here are the brackets:[more]