Coloma 2024 All-Star Baseball Tournament deemed successful
For many years, the Coloma Youth Baseball and Softball Association (CYBSA) have featured successful all-star tournaments for softball, in addition to their in-season, regular season, team tournaments for baseball and softball. To expand their footprint, the organization embarked on a brand-new journey last weekend, as they hosted the Coloma All-Star Baseball Tournament for one of the first times in recent memory. Early indications suggest they were successful in their effort.
Unlike recent other tournaments, which featured the gamut of weather the Tri-City area receives during the summer, this tournament found a gaping hole in the recent pattern and was played in fantastic conditions. Fair weather prevailed throughout the proceedings, with partly to mostly cloudy skies overhead and temperatures that were in the seasonable upper 70s to low 80s. Because of the conditions, no delays occurred, and games were played on schedule, unless they concluded early or went into extra innings. Playing games on time is a must, considering if advertising a three-day tournament, to ensure it gets completed, if humanly possible.
The following is the results of the 2024 tournament, which will complete the youth baseball and softball seasons, and vacate the CYBSA diamonds, until next spring.
In the 8U Division, a total of six teams were represented in the field (from five community leagues), including the home team, along with Buchanan, Dowagiac, Hartford, Howard Township (Lane) and Howard Township (Olsen). We are excited to announce that Coloma won the division championship, taking home the tournament trophies for 2024!
The host community started the weekend with a 2-0 record in pool play, defeating Hartford, 13-0, and Dowagiac, 17-16. That earned them the top seed in the bracket. After clinching a first-round bye, they drew a rematch with #5-seed Dowagiac in the semifinals, and took home the win, before defeating #2-seed Howard Township (Olsen) in the championship game.
In the 10U Division, a total of eight teams were represented in the field, including the home team, along with Benton Harbor, Berrien Springs, Dowagiac LL, Galien, Niles (NTFP), Paw Paw and Watervliet. When the dust settled, Berrien Springs took home the tournament trophies for 2024, defeating Dowagiac LL in the championship game. Berrien Springs started the weekend with a 2-0 record in pool play, defeating Galien, 13-7, and Benton Harbor, 27-5. That earned them the top seed in the bracket. During bracket play, they rolled off victories against #8-seed Niles (NTFP) in the quarterfinals and against #5-seed Coloma in the semifinals, earning them a matchup with the #3-seed in the finals.
In the 12U Division, a total of six teams were represented in the field, including the home team, along with Galien, Harris, Hartford, Howard Township and Watervliet. When the dust settled, Howard Township took home the tournament trophies for 2024, defeating Galien in the championship game. Howard Township started the weekend with a 2-0 record in pool play, defeating Harris, 12-0, and Watervliet, 13-1. That earned them the top seed in the bracket. After clinching a first-round bye, they would post a victory against #5-seed Watervliet in the semifinals, earning them a matchup with the #3-seed in the finals.
In the 14U Division, a total of three teams were represented in the field, including the home team, along with Brandywine and Hartford. When the dust settled, Brandywine took home the tournament trophies for 2024, defeating Coloma in the championship game. Brandywine started the weekend with a 2-0 record in pool play, defeating Hartford, 17-5, and Coloma, 14-7. That earned them the top seed in the bracket. Brandywine would need just one more victory to take home the title, as they were locked into the finals. They had to await the winner of #2-seed Hartford and #3-seed Coloma, a semifinal game that the host community would win, avenging their loss during pool play.
Despite the challenges that come with hosting all-star tournaments, the Coloma Youth Baseball and Softball Association should be acknowledged with a “tip of the hat”. Having run these myself for many years, it’s not always a fun task – until you can take a deep breath, and realize the positives, when it’s all said-and done! The CYBSA must appreciate the support of everyone that came through the gates or volunteered their time, to ensure the success of this year’s tournament. One would have to believe that they will want to make this a yearly tradition from now on.
Now, since the youth baseball and softball seasons have been completed in the blink of an eye, our attention will peek towards the upcoming fall campaigns for Coloma Comet sports. It’s unbelievable to fathom that in a few short weeks, local student-athletes will be starting practices, while games, matches and meets will be contested shortly thereafter. Business is about to pick up, so stay tuned to the Coloma Press Box for local coverage of your favorite local teams!
As always, GO GREEN! GO GOLD!