ANTHEM, Ariz. --
Spring tournament season is in full swing in Arizona, as some of the
top high school teams from around the nation continue to converge on the
desert to gain valuable experience against quality competition and
exposure to the scouting community.
This week kicks
off the Coach Bob National Invitational, which is a two week tournament.
The first week will feature the National Division, the tournament's top division, along with the Premier and Classic Divisions. Week two will feature the second high division, the American Division, along with the All-Star, AAA and AA Divisions. In last year's tournament the Open Section, which will run throughout the two week stretch, featured some of the best games. In fact, the Open Division provided the No. 10 highlight of the entire 2012 season, as Edmond Santa Fe (OK) RHP Ty Hensley was completely dominant in a five inning no-hitter, in which he not only touched 95 mph with his fastball and paired it with a present plus curveball, but also crushed a monster home run.
The Coach Bob National Invitational tournament is a conglomeration of two tournaments, a national invitational that was started by Boulder Creek High School, and the Eagles Classic hosted by O'Connor High School. The two events merged into one major event beginning in 2008 and will now grow to 100 teams this year. The tournament is named in honor of former Boulder Creek coach Bob Weinheimer, who concluded his 44 year coaching career at the school. Boulder Creek head coach Joe McDonald explained that his team (which has captured the National Division championship each of the past two years) has a lot of pride playing in memory of Coach Bob.
The 2013 field is headlined by Bishop Gorman (NV), which boasts a nation leading streak of eight consecutive state championships (at Nevada's highest classification; 4A). The Gaels are currently ranked No. 30 in the nation.
Coming into the
tournament the players that have already made an impression on the PG
scouting staff include: Barlesville (OK) 2013 RHP James Teague, Bishop Gorman (NV) 2013 OF Kenny Meimerstorf, Boulder Creek (AZ) 2013 C Riley Joyce, Broken Arrow (OK) 2013 RHP Trey Cobb, Chaparral (CO) 2015 OF Keenan Eaton, Edmond Santa Fe (OK) 2014 SS Quin Walbergh, Montgomery Bell Academy (TN) 2013 SS Penn Murfee, Moorpark (CA) 2013 RHP Sean Barry, O'Connor (AZ) 2014 LHP Cameron Ming, Pine Creek (CO) 2013 LHP Reagan Biechler, Pinnacle (AZ) 2014 OF Gerard Hernandez, Quartz Hill (CA) 2014 RHP Jon Teaney, Sheldon (OR) 2013 LHP/1B Brett Nielsen, Southridge (OR) 2013 RHP Reza Aleaziz, ThunderRidge (CO) 2014 RHP AJ Jones, Verdigris (OK) 2013 RHP Blake Battenfield, West Linn (OR) 2015 RHP Karsen Lindell, and Westview (OR) 2015 MIF/RHP Parker Kelly. But it's important to note that this list will grow significantly over the next two weeks as prospects begin to emerge and separate themselves.
The PG staff covering the tournament will follow
up on these players along with other prospects that stand out in the
daily scouting blog featuring scouting notes and video that can be
accessed from the Perfect Game homepage. In addition we will be
providing live twitter coverage Todd Gold (@TGold_PG), Matt Bliven (@PGBliv) and Jheremy Brown (@JBrownPG) with real-time scouting information and game updates throughout the tournament.
The 2013 Coach Bob National Invitational will also feature one locally televised game, with a matchup between Bishop Gorman (NV) and Boulder Creek (AZ) being broadcasted locally on Cox 7 and streamed live online at Cox7.com on Thursday March 21 at 7:00 MST, live from Grand Canyon University. The following night Grand Canyon will host another Coach Bob Invitational matchup, as Mullen (CO) takes on O'Connor (AZ) at 7:00 on Friday March 22.