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© Copyright 2018 – 2024 FIRECRACKER SPORTS. All Rights Reserved. TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY
© Copyright 2018 – 2024 FIRECRACKER SPORTS. All Rights Reserved. TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY
This week, we at Firecracker Sports wanted to feature two particular tournament events that we offer during the summer months; the Mid Atlantic Summer Championships, and the Sweet Spot Showcase Classic. These events, both taking place in Pennsylvania, offer fierce competition amongst a variety of unique game venues, providing quality baseball for coaches and players, as well as potential visibility for older players performing in front of college coaches or scouts. Most importantly, these two events have the potential for a ton of fun, both on and off the field!
This past summer was our first year holding the Mid Atlantic Summer Championships, which took place in Valley Forge, PA. We were absolutely thrilled with the performance of the teams that came out for the inaugural tourney, and we’re looking to come back bigger and better in year two. Last year’s Mid Atlantic Summer Championships featured about 30 teams across three divisions, with those being 15U, 16U, and 17/18U. This year, we’ve decided to add both 13U and 14U divisions to the tournament, as we’re looking to double the size of the event this second go-around. This tournament is a four game guarantee, regardless of division, with pool play taking place over the first three days and playoff games being played on Sunday.
We spoke with Firecracker Sports President Mark Cooke and asked a few questions regarding the Mid Atlantic Summer Championships, in order to give a highly involved perspective on the event. When asked what made this particular event stand out among others, he said;
“Our Mid Atlantic Summer Championships is a unique destination for our event annually with our host Valley Forge Sports. It’s a great vacation spot for families to travel and of course play a little baseball. Valley Forge fits into our model of hosting in travel destinations like Saratoga, Cape Cod and Williamsburg where there is history of our country but also great spots for families to enjoy. This destination allows us to bring athletes onto good campuses like University of Valley Forge, Temple University and Ursinus College along with allowing teams from the Northeast to play teams from the state of Pennsylvania and the Mid Atlantic.”
An additional benefit that Mark touched on was the ability for teams and organizations from different areas of the country to engage and face off against each other. When discussing the scope of the event compared to others that are offered, he said, “Competition is always good when you mix in teams from different parts of the country that you normally don’t play on a weekend. We love to bring in teams from New England and New York to these events, so the local teams and others from Pennsylvania can compete against them.”.
The other event we’ve chosen to highlight, the Sweet Spot Showcase Classic, is returning for its 6th year, and it’s easily one of the events we’re most excited to continue to offer. Located in Hershey, PA and surrounding towns, this event follows the same format as the Mid Atlantic Summer Championships, with it being a four game guarantee, and pool play taking place Thursday-Saturday with playoffs Sunday. This event had already offered divisions spanning from 13U-17/18U in years past, and we’re looking to continue with the elite level of play that we have seen from this event before. Last year, about 70 teams competed in the Sweet Spot Showcase Classic across all of our age divisions, and we’re hoping to see that same desire to win again from all of our competing teams this year.
One bonus to this event is the College Showcase Camp we host with 15+ schools annually at Millersville University, where we host 50+ players in a pro-style workout. We collect data through our partners Trackman, Swift Performance and other data collection plus evaluations by college coaches in attendance. Players also have 20-25 minutes of skill building during our instructional period for a true camp environment. This is a separate paid event but every player receives a player profile with their metrics, evaluations, rankings and a t-shirt as part of the event, all for under $200 a player.
An additional benefit of participating in the Sweet Spot Showcase Classic is the caliber of venues utilized for some of the games played; while all Firecracker Tournaments strive to feature high-quality, local, high school, and collegiate ballparks, the Sweet Spot Showcase Classic certainly stands out. The fields involved in this event, especially for playoff and championship games, are truly some of the most exciting to play on. Professional parks such as Clipper Magazine Stadium or WellSpan Park both serve as homes to professional baseball teams in the Atlantic League, and we are happy to give our teams the opportunity to play in ballparks of this standard.
Off the field, there is certainly plenty that “sweetens the deal” regarding the Sweet Spot Showcase Classic, but one of the most prominent benefits has to be its location in proximity to HersheyPark, Pennsylvania’s largest theme park. Of course, there are options for food and some activities in the surrounding area, but HersheyPark itself has a ton to offer. They offer roller coasters, amusement rides, arcades, carnival games, food, and much more! We’ve had Firecracker Staff hit the park for some fun in their free time and everyone has reiterated how great the experience was and how much there was to do. The park also offers half-day passes at a cheaper rate which could fit in perfectly to a tournament schedule and work as a great team or family trip. Overall, if you’re planning on joining us for the Sweet Spot Showcase Classic, it may not be a bad idea to look into what a day at HersheyPark could look like.
These two Pennsylvania-based tournaments are some of the events that we have been looking forward to most going into this year; we were ecstatic with the outcome of both events last summer, but we’re still working hard to ensure that both tournaments will continue to grow and thrive. We hope to see you and your team at one (or both) of these events!
