The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

TONIGHT marks the opening for Freedom Farm Baseball League’s Under-12 Invitational Tournament as they host several premier youth baseball teams this weekend.

Other participating leagues will include the Junior Baseball League of Nassau (JBLN), Grand Bahama Little League (GBLL), Legacy Baseball (LB) and the US Virgin Islands (USVI), all hosted at the Freedom Farm Baseball Park in Yamacraw.

Games will be played in a round robin format. Play opens tonight at 6:15pm with an interleague game between FF Blue and FF White.

Tomorrow’s schedule will feature a trio of games on the schedule, beginning at 4pm with FF Blue versus the GBLL. JBLN will face Legacy in the second game, with USVI against FF White in the feature game at 8pm.

Saturday will feature a full slate of eight games beginning at 8am with FF Blue against JBLN. GBLL will face JBLN at 9:45am, Legacy versus FF White at 11:30am, USVI versus FF Blue at 1:15pm, GBLL versus JBLN at 3:00pm, Legacy versus USVI at 4:45pm, JBLN versus FF White at 6:30pm and the final game of the night between Legacy and GBLL at 8:15pm.

Sunday, the final day of competition, also begins at 8am with FF Blue against Legacy, USVI follows against JBLN at 9:35am and Round Robin Play is completed with a matchup between FF White and GBLL.

The bronze medal game will be played at 12:45pm followed by the Championship game at 2:30pm.

“We thought that we would have a challenge between the Bahamas and the USA and then we decided to invite Grand Bahama, who will be bringing two teams,” said Greg Burrows Sr, the founder of Freedom Farm. “We also got confirmation from the Junior Baseball League of Nassau, who also decided that they will enter a team as well. So we have turned it into an international tournament.”

Burrows said the tournament will also give Freedom Farm a chance to look at its players, who could have the potential to play in the Bahamas Baseball Association’s National Championships and the Cal Ripken Little League World Series.

“The US Virgin Islands team did very well in the qualifying tournament for the region last year, so I expect the competition to be pretty tough from those guys,” he said. “They also play well in Little League, so this will definitely give us a good indication of where we are as we try to assemble our team for the regional tournament.”