Stars and Stripes baseball tryouts set for Saturday

LEESBURG — Will Smith wants to showcase the baseball talent in South Georgia, but he needs some help from the Southwest Georgia hardball community.

Smith, the head coach at Worth County High School, is helping to organize tryouts for the 2011 Stars and Stripes National Baseball Tournament, a winter event held in South Florida pitting the best youth baseball players from 25-plus states.

One of six regional tryouts in Georgia will be held Saturday for ages 9U-18U at Lee County High School.

“It’s a battle of the states,” said Smith, who will coach one of the age groups during the Christmas break tournament at the Houston Astros spring training complex. “All these states have gotten together … to try to bring bragging rights back to (their) state.”

Two teams of 14 players each will be chosen for every age group from 9-18 – more than 250 players from Georgia who will receive national exposure if selected. Two Major League Baseball scouts from the Boston Red Sox and San Diego Padres will conduct the evaluations at the tryouts and coach the 17U-18U teams.

“It’s more than just a tryout,” Smith said. “This is also an evaluation. It’s an opportunity to find out where (the player is) nationally. I think it’s a golden opportunity for kids today to try to make it.”

The only snag thus far is not many players from the Leesburg area have signed up.

“I want South Georgia to be represented in this,” Smith said.

Interested participants can register by visiting the 2011 Stars and Stripes National Tournament website at www.starsandstripesbaseball.com online. Saturday’s tryout will run 9 a.m. to noon for 9U-12U and continue at 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. for 13U-18U. The cost is $115.

Other state-wide regional tryouts are scheduled for Macon (Sunday), Loganville (Oct. 15), Hazlehurst (Oct. 22), Gainesville (Oct. 30) and Evans (Nov. 5).

Chosen players will compete in a state tournament on Nov. 19 and Dec. 3 and advancing teams are guaranteed at least five games in Orlando Dec. 27-Jan. 2 at the Houston Astros training facility for the Winter World Championships.

Players will be coached by MLB scouts, collegiate coaches, current or former high school coaches and former professional players.

Smith also said the winter ball tournaments and practices will not interfere with current travel baseball schedules because no part of the Stars and Stripes National Tournament is mandatory except for the Winter World Championships beginning in late December.

The organization’s tryouts feature state-of-the-art FungoMan training equipment, which Smith says is similar to a JUGS pitching machine “except it’s on steroids.”

A video of the workout that will be used at each tryout can also be viewed at the tournament’s website. Players will be timed in the 40 and 60-yard dash, home-to-first, tested on infield/outfield skills, hitting and pitching and a home run derby is planned.