By RICHIE HALL
School’s out. It’s officially summer. That means it’s time for baseball.
And there’s plenty of baseball at the Bobby Mills Field of Dreams, the home of Noblesville Youth Baseball. The organization is currently in the middle of a busy stretch of tournaments, which started in the beginning of June and will continue through the middle of July. Chris Sciaudone, the executive director of NYB, said the league is in its third of six weekends in a row of hosting travel tournaments at the Field of Dreams, which is located on the Hazel Dell Elementary School grounds.
“We stay pretty busy and watch the Weather Channel a lot,” said Sciaudone.
The busy season actually started in May with the Midwest Community Travel Baseball Championships, which was for age groups 8U to 12U. The event was limited to community or church-based travel teams, which fits right in to what the league is wanting to achieve.
“First of all, we are blessed with just such a great facility,” said Sciaudone. “Many of these teams have come, especially from out of state, they come year after year. They know that to come up to Hamilton County, it’s a good place to come, plenty of places to stay and to eat, and a great baseball facility. Secondly, we cater to more of the community-level baseball teams, not the elite level baseball teams, which is more of what Grand Park is about.”
Sciaudone said those community-level teams know they can come to the Field of Dreams “and play good, competitive baseball and not worry about driving a couple hours to get their brains beaten in, which nobody wants to do that.”
NYB’s six weekends of baseball began on June 6 with the Indiana State Games, another tournament geared for age groups 8U to 12U. The tournament operated under a four-game guarantee, which Sciaudone said is one of the things that makes NYB unique among baseball leagues.
“You’ll be in with all the other teams in your age group and your division, and you’ll play three games,” said Sciaudone as he explained the format. “And then based on how you do in those three games, you’ll be placed in a bracket. So if we have a big division, let’s say we have 12 teams, rather than have them play 1 through 12 all in the same bracket, we may take the top six teams and put them in an upper bracket, and the next six teams and put them in a second bracket, with the thought process being, that way, better chance that everyone is playing some competitive baseball on the weekend.”
Sciaudone noted that a three-game guarantee is used more frequently, but he believes that the four-game guarantee format makes the NYB popular, “because, especially for teams that are traveling some distance, to know that they’re going to get an extra game,” he said.
The second week featured the Field of Dreams Frenzy, which was for age groups 7U to 12U. This week is the All-American Slugfest, another event for ages 8-12.
“We have 65 teams playing this weekend,” said Sciaudone. “About a dozen teams from Ohio, a couple teams from Illinois and the majority from Central Indiana with a few from Northern Indiana.”
Next week, NYB will host two tournaments simultaneously. First is the Summer Showdown, which is for ages 7-10. The 7U division is open to all teams, while the 8U to 10U divisions are reserved for part-time travel or rec All-Star teams.
The 11 and 12-year olds will get to play in the Field of Dreams Wood Bat Classic, also scheduled for next week.
“We partner with Titan bats, and the boys will be out there swinging lumber next weekend,” said Sciaudone. “The kids always get excited for wood bats until they hit a baseball with a wooden bat. Then they realize it doesn’t go very far. But that should be a lot of fun. So between those two tournaments next weekend, we have 65 teams playing simultaneously in the two tournaments.”
The NYB World Series is scheduled during the Fourth of July weekend, July 3-7. The event is for ages 8-12 and will feature five pool play games, followed by bracket play. The busy stretch finishes during the week of July 10-14 with the Indiana Part-time Travel Baseball Championships, for ages 7-12. This tournament is limited to part-time travel and rec All-Star teams.
“And then we’re done,” said Sciaudone. At least for a little bit. The NYB will begin its Fall Ball season around the third week of August. Sciaudone said there are already a dozen teams signed up for Fall Ball.
“They’re already signing up like crazy for Fall Ball, even though today’s the first day of summer,” said Sciaudone.
The 9UA Westfield Green Rocks and Primetime Black were two of the teams playing Friday during the All-American Slugfest, which is taking place at the Noblesville Youth Baseball’s Bobby Mills Field of Dreams on the Hazel Dell Elementary School grounds. The All-American Slugfest is part of a busy stretch for NYB, which is hosting six straight weeks of tournaments. (Richie Hall)