Away from school, Jared Allen has either been practicing baseball, doing homework or filling out questionnaires.
"Have you ever looked at one of those things?" Jared's dad Mark asked. "They're pretty tough."
The questionnaires in question are from major league baseball teams and the Polk County slugger has been filling out each one, knowing there is a strong possibility he'll be selected in the early-June player draft.
"I might only get this opportunity once," Allen said on the heels of his team's extra-inning victory over Bradley Central.
Allen, a football and baseball standout at Polk County, already has signed a baseball scholarship tendered by the University of Tennessee, but he may never get to Knoxville as a student-athlete.
"We've talked to a few scouts but what is comes down is whatever makes Jared happy," Mark said. "He loves UT, but he is smart enough to know that this opportunity might only present itself once."
The family has talked directly with representatives from the Brewers, the Cubs, Royals, the Rangers and the Mariners. They don't have a firm grasp on where Jared might be selected.
"What we have heard, and it's second-hand, is that he's being projected somewhere in the low 20 [rounds]," Mark said.
Heading into Thursday afternoon's game, the outfielder/corner infielder/pitcher was hitting .563.
Big district games
There are at least two major series tonight and Tuesday with Ooltewah playing Soddy-Daisy in 5-AAA and Red Bank meeting East Hamilton in 6-AA. Both series could decide regular season champions and the No. 1 seed for postseason tournaments.
Soddy-Daisy and Ooltewah have 6-2 district records and a two-game lead on the Walker Valley in the 5-AAA standings. They'll play at Ooltewah at 7 tonight and at Soddy-Daisy at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
Red Bank has a one-game edge on East Hamilton thanks to a sweep on Central, which split with the Hurricanes. They will also play 7 p.m. games - at Red Bank on Monday and at Chattanooga State on Tuesday.
Baylor and McCallie will play a three-game Division II East/Middle series over three days. They're scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday at Baylor and 6 p.m. Friday at McCallie before going back to Baylor for a 2 p.m. contest on Saturday.
Two tournaments
Top Class A teams will compete in Lookout Valley's Yellow Jacket Classic and Class AAA teams in the annual Soddy-Daisy's annual Trojan Invitational is scheduled Thursday-Sunday.
The Lookout Valley tournament will incorporate Gordon Lee as a complimentary site on Thursday before moving everything home on Friday and Saturday. With two divisions, Saturday's game will match the corresponding place-finishers on Saturday leading up to the championship at 4:45.
Joining the hosts are Rockwood, Cascade, Summertown, Signal Mountain, Franklin Road Academy and Notre Dame.
The 16-team Soddy-Daisy field has several quality out-of-town teams including Germantown, Wilson Central, Collierville, Knox Halls, Lincoln County and Coffee County. Local entrants include Rhea County, Ooltewah, Central, Cleveland, Bradley Central, Red Bank and Walker Valley.
The tournament will have championship semifinals beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday at Soddy-Daisy with the championship at 2 p.m. Playing sites in addition to Soddy-Daisy include Red Bank, Central and Bradley Central.