Every softball player at Warner Park this weekend is having each hop, skip and jump scrutinized, but not all of them can use that metaphor to describe their routes to Chattanooga. Take, for instance, the Ultimate.
They’re based in Tuttle, Okla., a suburb of Oklahoma City, and chose to make the trip across several states to participate in the Scenic City 16s fastpitch exposure tournament. Teams were guaranteed six games during the four-day event, which resumes this morning at 8 and will conclude around 6 p.m.
Like the other 59 teams taking part, the Ultimate found the competition hosted by the Tennessee Fury’s fastpitch academy important because more than 40 college programs have had representatives pass through the gates since Thursday.
“We always go to one college exposure tournament out of state — at least one — and we decided this one would be a good one to go to,” Ultimate coach Rick Cummings said. “We’re hoping to get some seen. There are three (NCAA) Division I schools in Oklahoma that have softball programs. Tennessee has 14. With those percentages of Division I schools, we’re just trying to better our girls’ chances.”
Tennessee Tech coach Tory Acheson was an instructor at a camp attended by Cummings’ daughter, Whitney, when she was a high school sophomore, and now she’s a pitcher and first baseman at TTU.
All college levels watch
The Southeastern Conference has been well represented the last few days at Warner Park, but coaches from colleges and universities of all levels are also in competition for some of the talent that’s been on display.
Fred Gillum, coach of NCAA Division II Tusculum who recently signed Soddy-Daisy pitcher Alesha Buckner from the local area, said there are numerous quality players to be found these days. Larger schools can’t sign them all.
“The kids I lose in the recruiting wars are usually to a Division I school,” Gillum said. “That kind of tells me I’m recruiting the right kids.”
Watching and taking notes are the only things the college coaches are able to do at this event. Gillum said it’s become a necessity, even for schools the size of Tusculum, to start looking at players at these ages.
“If we don’t, we’ll be left out,” Gillum said. “It’s never too early. Kids are starting to take the sport more seriously at a younger age.”
ESPNrise.com reporting
Later this week readers can look for stories from the Scenic City 16s to appear online at ESPNrise.com.
Reporter Garland Cooper, who played softball at Northwestern and has also played on the PFX tour, is spending the weekend at Warner Park. She had met the Fury coaches when she did an earlier story on their organization.
Cooper said she tries to find all-star-caliber events across the country. This is the first geared exclusively for the 16-under age group.
“This is a kind of different tournament than most,” Cooper said. “All these kids are unsigned. That’s something cool and different.”
