Boomer's Blogs 1.5 THE UPDATED FATHER'S DAY CLASSIC EVENTS

FEBRUARY 15TH, 2025

Welcome back to another entry in Boomer’s Blogs! If you’ve been keeping up with our posts across the website lately, as well as throughout our social media, you’ve probably noticed that we have been highlighting some of our personal favorite events, as well as new additions into what Firecracker Sports offers, such as the upcoming Northeast Premier Baseball League. This week, we would like to focus on an event that was previously offered by Firecracker Sports, but has received a new spin this year after 11 years in existence.

The 12th Annual Father’s Day Classic will be held this June, running from Friday, June 13th (evening only), Saturday, June 14th (all day), Sunday, June 15th (all day) through Monday, June 16th (evening only). The tournament now has 2 super regionals where teams can choose to play games throughout a region, Mystic, CT, or Providence, RI/Southeastern MA. Regardless of where you’re playing, the event is a 3-game guarantee. Teams will play 2 games on Friday/Saturday or a DH on Saturday. After Saturday’s games in each regional, teams will be seeded overall. The top 8 teams will advance to the playoff bracket, with playoff games starting Sunday and ending Monday, while remaining teams will play a third consolation game on Sunday as their conclusion of the event.

The final 2 teams, per age group, will not play for a championship of Mystic or Providence regional however. This will allow all teams to not play 3 games in a day, a maximum of 2 each day. The two playoff teams from each bracket (2 from CT & 2 from RI/MA) will advance to Monday and play at a neutral site. The #1 ranked team from the Mystic side will face the #2 ranked team from Providence, and vice versa. The teams that advance from those two semifinal matchups will then go on to meet each other in the Father’s Day Classic Championship later on Monday! Sites are being finalized so the championship sites on Monday are equally split between both regionals, so there will be 3 sites on Monday in the Providence area and 3 sites in the Mystic area.

This is our first time ever splitting an event like this, and we are already anticipating the energy that we believe these playoffs will bring. According to our President and Owner, Mark Cooke “The idea came last spring when speaking with the previous event owner about the event and maintain the competition but also the 100 team event in the best way moving forward. I realized this event is so massive with teams, sites, geographical footprint, that we needed to do something to make it special but minimize travel and grow the game in the right way for all to enjoy.” Mark went on to say, “In the first year, it was a learning curve to operate the event the same way but now we want to make it better but more exciting for teams to participate, while maintaining the cost of the event.” As you are hearing, the event went up only $50 per team but now teams are playing in their region of choice, limiting travel, if needed and also getting anywhere from 3-6 games if they do well. Not bad for the cost of under $1100!

Aside from the new playoff format, Firecracker Sports is happy to continue offering the same premier tournament experience across all of our age divisions; The Father’s Day Classic remains one of our most diverse events when it comes to the spread of teams across all age groups. Almost all of our events feature divisions ranging from 13U to 17/18U, while only a select few feature a division for 12U or youth divisions. This year, we’re hoping to see even more out of our younger teams and athletes, and this event is sure to provide a proper opportunity for teams to hone their skills, and for Little Leaguers to show off their abilities. (See our Tournament Rules page for bat rules in each age group and more)

The Father’s Day Classic features some of our favorite college venues and fields to work with; in Rhode Island, we’re thrilled to be hosting games at the University of Rhode Island, Johnson & Wales University, Roger Williams University, Dean College, McCarthy Stadium, and Pierce Memorial Stadium, among others. In Connecticut, we’re excited to return to Eastern Connecticut State University, Mitchell College, Stonington High School this year and to host games at a new venue, the Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT!

On top of this being one of our larger events, it takes place on a weekend that’s already sure to be full of family fun! Outside of games, participating families and teams will have plenty of opportunities nearby; whether it’s visiting Olde Mystic Village or the Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut, or checking out Providence and grabbing some great Italian food, there’s sure to be something special to do with your family and team members off the field as well! Firecracker Sports is always proud to organize and operate events in areas that balance quality fields and venues for play, along with respected and desirable locations for travel. You might even see Boomer, our Mascot out visiting fields and shooting some free Father’s Day Classic t-shirts into the crowds of people at various venues.

For those of you already signed up for the 12th Annual Father’s Day Classic, we hope you’re just as excited for the new format as we are! If your team hasn’t signed up, feel free to check out the registration page for more information, and availability by age division. Thanks for reading, on behalf of Firecracker Sports, and we look forward to seeing you in Mystic and Providence this Father’s Day Weekend later in June.

In Other News…

Aside from discussing the updates to our Father’s Day Classic, Firecracker Sports would also like to highlight some updates regarding our website and other company updates.

If you’ve been reading along with our blogs each week, you likely also caught our “FS Newsletter” that went out in the beginning of February. Within the newsletter, we featured our recent “Boomer’s Blog” posts, our scout day blogs from the last month or so, and more general information on what Firecracker Sports has been up to! This item was sent out as an email, but will soon be available on our website to view in full. Firecracker Sports will be releasing one of these newsletters every month or more frequently, recapping recent Firecracker Sports events, leagues, tournaments, blogs, social media posts, and more!
We recently added a new feature that allows players or family members to add player videos to their profile for free. Each player listed on our website has the ability to have 3 recruiting or highlight videos in their profile at 1 time. Videos should be sent using the form online and can be screen edited for use on our website.
Also we are looking for more players to let us know about their recent college commitments, so we can post on Wednesdays’ during our social media promotions but also on the profile and our alumni list. That form is here.
Last but not least, if you have been on our new website, thank you! We want to make sure your information is accurate and up to date so please update your account, whenever you log in so this information is current. As you can see we went to a new website this past november to keep everything in 1 place for you the customer, while making more improvements, it allows you to always be on our website and never taken to a 3rd party.

More MLB MOVES!!!

Since our last time discussing free agency moves in Major League Baseball, there have been some more noteworthy signings and moves throughout the league; most recently (as of this being written), Alex Bregman signed a 3-year, $120 million deal with the Boston Red Sox, rejecting a 6-year, $156 million offer from the Houston Astros, where he spent the first nine years of his career. Bregman reportedly turned down other offers from the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago Cubs, as well. In joining Boston, Bregman will reunite with their manager Alex Cora, who served as a bench coach on the polarizing 2017 Astros World Series team, of which Bregman was a member.

On the other side of the infield, first-baseman Pete Alonso re-signed with the New York Mets after an extended negotiation period. Ahead of last season, Alonso turned down a 7-year, $160 million offer, opting to test the market. After Alonso failed to attract much legitimate attention outside of the Mets organization, he returned on a 2-year, $54 million contract, just around the same annual value as the contract he declined ahead of the 2024 season. Alonso, who had a season slightly below his typical output, provided some exciting moments in the postseason, despite the Mets falling short of the World Series. The Polar Bear will continue to call Queens home, at least for the foreseeable future.

Some smaller, but still notable moves have also been taking place; Anthony Santander, previously of the Orioles, signed a 5-year deal with a divisional rival, the Toronto Blue Jays. Jurickson Profar signed with the Atlanta Braves, leaving San Diego, and former Met Harrison Bader is heading for Minnesota. Future Hall of Fame pitchers Clayton Kershaw and Justin Verlander both signed 1-year deals, with Kershaw returning to his lifelong Dodgers, and Verlander heading to the Bay Area to play with their rivals, the San Francisco Giants. There have been plenty of other moves this off-season, and Firecracker Sports is always eager to talk baseball, whether it be from our events, or the MLB!