FARMINGTON -- The sixth annual Chad Wolff Classic played last week on three local fields and area baseball diamonds continues to draw from a national pool of baseball teams.
The event memorializes Wolff, a former assistant baseball coach at Rogers Heritage, who died suddenly after going into the hospital for a routine knee surgery in 2013. The 2021 tourney played out at the Farmington Sports Complex, Farmington High School baseball field and Rieff Park in Prairie Grove among other regional venues.
The baseball showcase brought dozens of teams from multiple states with players ranging in age from 15 to 18. Cars were seen in the parking lots bearing license plates from as far away as Utah and Wisconsin.
Farmington Sports Complex
Staying in the shade became a premium for fans and personnel working the tournament as temperatures hit triple digits Thursday.
Dalton Cook, a 2020 Siloam Springs graduate currently attending the University of Arkansas Rich Mountain, a community college at Mena, brought his own pop-up canopy which he set up to run the gate at the Farmington Sports Complex. No shade was available for operating the scoreboard so Cook switched off with his partner, Wyatt Core.
"We were frying, it's good to get out of the sun. The heat index is 102 right now," Cook said early in the afternoon and it wasn't long before the actual temperature climbed to 102.
Cook pointed out the advantage of playing on grass as opposed to turf, which absorbs and tends to radiate heat.
"I'd hate to be playing on turf right now. It'd be a 115 on turf," Cook said.
The sports complex hosted six games on Thursday and Friday as teams engaged in pool play.
Farmington High School
Over at the Farmington High School baseball field, head coach Jay Harper and his assistants Clint Scrivner and Greg Pair relaxed under a spacious canopy.
"I learned my lesson long ago with this tournament. We've got to make ourselves as comfortable as we can because we are going to be here four days," Harper said.
Nebraska Prospects Midwest teammates, Ben Weindal, an outfielder/pitcher from Millard North, a Class A school in Omaha, Neb., and Garrett White, a left-handed pitcher from Ralston, a Class B school, both rising seniors, said Thursday's temperature in Omaha was even hotter at 106. They defeated a team from Salina, Kan., in their first game of a double-header, then lost to an opponent neither knew.
However, the opposing pitcher left an impression on both.
"The first game was alright, but the second game was good competition. They had a good pitcher," Weindal said.
White agreed, saying, "That kid could throw."
Weindal didn't have any ideas about sightsseeing yet.
"Baseball's mainly the priority. I haven't really looked into anything yet. We just got here last night so we'll probably find something to do ... maybe go to Top Golf or something," Weindal said.
Prairie Grove's Rieff Park
PRAIRIE GROVE -- Mark and Amber Brammer made the trip from Kansas City, Mo., to Prairie Grove's Rieff Park to cheer on their son, Jake Gilbertson, a rising freshman playing first base for Kansas City's YBC 15 & Under.
Having driven through but never stayed over locally the couple was excited to look around Northwest Arkansas for the few days they're going to be in town.
"It's beautiful, I've heard lots of good things about Fayetteville," Mark Brammer said.
The Brammers advise any local ball fans attending tournaments in the Kansas City metro area to visit the Power & Light District, attend a Royals or Chiefs game and "go to Q39 and eat barbeque" at Overland Park.
"It's the best barbeque in the world," Mark Brammer said.
They enjoy eating Mexican food and were thinking about checking out a unique item, a Hawaiian Fajita, which comes in steak, chicken or shrimp served in a hollowed out cooked pineapple, on the menu at La Huerta on Crossover in Fayetteville.
The couple was intrigued to learn of the history of Rieff Park, the high school playing field for a trio of former Tiger pitchers, Jalen Beeks (PGHS Class of 2011), Ty Tice (Class of 2014), and Logan Gragg (Class of 2016), all of whom were drafted by Major League baseball clubs with Beeks and Tice already getting chances to play in the Majors and Gragg currently working in the minors.
When informed Beeks checks in at 5-11, while his cousin Tice measures 5-9, Mark Brammer shrugged, "Remember Billy Wagner?" he asked.
"He was only 5-10 and 180 pounds; it ain't the size of the pitcher," Mark Brammer said.
Wagner earned 422 career Major League saves while recording nearly 1,200 strikeouts during a 16-year career that began with the Houston Astros. His 44 saves in 2003 broke Dave Smith's franchise record. Wagner retired after the 2010 season.
Beeks is on injured reserve with the Tampa Bay Rays following Tommy John surgery. Tice made his Major League debut April 9 with the Toronto Blue Jays and was traded to the Atlanta Braves on June 4. He is now with the Gwinnett Stripers, the Braves' Triple A affiliate. Gragg (6-5, 200) was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the eighth round of the 2019 draft. He currently is on the Peoria Chiefs' roster.
More News
BASEBALL BOUNCES BACK FROM LOST COVID SEASON
Players Lament
Last week Farmington High School’s baseball field featured teams from across the nation competing in the Chad Wolff Classic named after an assistant baseball coach at Rogers Heritage, who died suddenly after going in for what was considered a routine knee surgery in 2013.
A pair of left-handed pitchers on the Nebraska Prospects Midwest roster, Ben Weindal and Garrett White, faced the same covid situation, which ruined everybody’s baseball seasons last year.
Weindal, a rising senior who also plays outfield and attends Millard North, currently listed as the fifth largest high school in Nebraska fielding Class A baseball teams with 1,928 students and a 3-year average of 1,923.67 among Nebraska’s 29 Class A schools.
“Last year was such a bummer. We were still in our spring season. We had a few practices and then it got called off and we couldn’t play all spring. We did get to play some summer baseball, which was fun, but it still wasn’t the same as how it usually is,” Weindal said.
White will be a senior this fall at Ralston, a Class B school, listed as the Cornhusker State’s 38th largest school, with a 3-year average of 734.67. Ralston is the third largest Class B baseball school with a 745 enrollment. There are 38 Class B baseball schools in Nebraska.
White considers the tournament good experience realizing that players, who want to go to the next level, may wind up performing in an environment quite different from what they’re used to.
“The heat kind of got to me towards the end. I felt it, but otherwise I had my stuff and I felt good out there,” White said.
“I love it down here, more people, different schools, different kind of a crowd than up at home.”
Last season White got to play American Legion baseball, but most colleges that came to scout talent were smaller NAIA schools, which he felt limited his exposure.
“You come out here, you get a lot more people,” White said.
Parental Perspective
Parents following travel ball teams have their own perspective.
Mark and Amber Brammer traveled from Kansas City, Mo. to Prairie Grove with Rieff Park one of the sites hosting the Chad Wolff Classic. The couple support their son, Jake Gilbertson, a rising freshman manning first base for Kansas City’s YBC 15 & Under.
The Brammers are grateful baseball is back in full swing after covid dramatically affected the sport in 2020. Amber Brammer sported baseball earrings as they camped out under an umbrella for shade near first base.
“It doesn’t matter how hot or cold it is, it’s nice to watch your kid compete,” Amber Brammer said.
Mark Brammer noted Jake is coming into his own and getting a lot better — one of the benefits of travel ball.
“He’s having a great time playing with kids almost a year older than him,” Mark Brammer said, adding, “This team’s got great camaraderie.”