The Kino Sports Complex once again played host to the Under Armour All America Pre-Season Tournament, powered by Baseball Factory. Over 400 outstanding high school players descended on Tucson, Arizona over MLK Weekend, competing with 24 MLB organizations and the ML Scouting Bureau looking on. The weather could not have been better and players turned in great performances during the three-day event.

To kick off the event, players and parents gathered at the Doubletree Tucson, host hotel for the weekend and site of the Opening Ceremony. After gearing up with Under Armour jerseys, hats and cleats, players were recognized alongside their team in front of the 1,200 players, coaches and parents in attendance. In addition, this year’s Under Armour All-America Game was officially announced. The game will return to historic Wrigley Field, to be played for the first time ever under the lights on Saturday, August 16th and broadcast live on the MLB Network. The first three players named to this year’s roster were introduced in front of the Doubletree crowd. They include: Colorado infielder Nicholas Shumpert; Arizona right-handed pitcher Sati Santa Cruz; and Texas infielder Ke’Bryan Hayes. The evening concluded with an outstanding keynote speech from Logan White, VP of Amateur Scouting for the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Saturday morning began with all position players participating in a pro-style workout, filmed and to-be-edited for their individual Baseball Factory Player Pages. In addition, Easton’s Hit Lab was on-site for players to demo the best bats in the game as well as test their exit velocities. Players earning the Top 8 exit velocities were rewarded with a custom engraved Easton wood bat! This year’s first place, top velocity went to sophomore Deano Looney (Matthews, NC). Each team ended the day at Kino with their first game of the tournament. Later that evening, Baseball Factory’s Senior Director of College Recruiting Dan Mooney led a college recruiting seminar to help educate players and their families on the complex college recruiting process.

(Easton Hit Lab Top Velocity Winners, Deano Looney pictured bottom left)

Sunday’s schedule continued with tournament games, each team playing twice before the end of the day. With beautiful weather and a pristine facility, the players were treated to ideal conditions to showcase their skills. There were many stand-out performances throughout the weekend and as usual at this event, some of the top performers were already well-known in the scouting community while others used the two days to put their name on the map. 

Continue to visit baseballfactory.com in the coming weeks to see the event’s best 60-yard dash times, catcher pop times and pitchers’ velocities, as well as Top 10 and Honorable Mention lists from the weekend.

Congratulations to all of the players who participated and we wish you the best of luck this spring!