Today is July 30th. Let me start by saying “Summer” is far from over – there are still beach days, concerts to attend, baseball games to write about, day trips, restaurants to try out, bars to frequent, home improvement weekend plans – and that’s just what’s planned for this week. However, for many summer collegiate baseball league players, their “summer” is nearing closure, if it hasn’t done so already. Summer collegiate baseball leagues play from roughly end of May/early June to about end of July/first of August. After all, the word “collegiate” is in the name of the summer baseball leagues. Thus, players and coaches will be returning to their respective home states, then to their respective colleges and universities once their “summer” is over. For many, including yours truly, it is some of the most fun you will ever have on a baseball field playing summer collegiate baseball. As a fan, I would put it up there with minor league baseball, which means that I absolutely love attending summer collegiate baseball league games.

But what if, just maybe, you could play in one more tournament before going back home? What if your team or your league could put together a roster of players willing to participate in one more summer event? What if your league and roster could play other leagues outside of your area, and finish up at a historic summer baseball league park for an epic double elimination tournament to end the summer collegiate baseball season in epic proportions. What if there was a National Summer Collegiate Baseball League Tournament, similar to the NCAA or Little League World Series Tournament which featured 30, 40, maybe 60 teams competing for the final four spots? Could it happen? Here is how I see it.

According to the baseball website, The Baseball Observer, as of April 2024 there are 86 major summer collegiate baseball leagues. Add in your hometown summer leagues that feature college, junior college, and incoming college/graduating HS Seniors and that number could stretch to well over 300 leagues nationwide. Many baseball fans know the big ones, right? I have attended and written about the Cape Cod Baseball League, New England Collegiate Baseball League, Coastal Plains League, Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League, Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League just to name a few. There are future Major League Baseball draft worthy players in each league, from the Chatham A’s to the Peninsula Pilots to Batavia Muckdogs. I’ve seen it, I’ve watched the games, the talent is real. The teams play about 40 something games, depending on the weather of course, which is just shy of what the professionals for the same stretch of time. These summer collegiate games are essentially on the field resume building opportunities for their next college season and perhaps the next year’s Major League Baseball Draft. So, why not finish with the ultimate resume building experience – a star performance in a national tournament?

I’ve seen NCAA baseball players move up in the Major League Baseball Draft considerably with a solid performance in the NCAA College Baseball Tournament. A relative nobody on a national powerhouse can get on a hitting hot streak and propel his stock from 19th round to 5th round or higher in short order. I’ve witnessed it the past few years. What if you had a so-so to decent summer in Florida or Arizona or Minnesota and then played on a national level, and went on one of the amazing hitting hot streaks? Transfer eligible players looking for a new home, you could showcase your talent nationally in a tournament like this, versus your peer group that you are challenging nationally for roster spots at top collegiate programs. Or, let’s say you are a top prospect and you had a lousy summer collegiate baseball league summer? You can totally redeem yourself with a solid end of the season, national tournament showing to finish off the summer on a high note.

And where would the tournament games be held? At the various summer collegiate baseball league home fields, of course. Don’t go big and host it at a minor league park or worse, a Major League park. No, keep it local. Keep the local community feel alive. Lawn chairs, $5 tickets, in between inning shenanigans, maybe some fireworks, but definitely a small town feel to the atmosphere of the game. Regional tournaments, similar to the Little League format, would decide the fate of teams moving on. Come up with 6 to 8 teams for a final double elimination tournament. And how about the final’s locale? Well, you can bet that places like Cardines Field in Newport, RI would be on my short list. As would Spillane Stadium in Wareham, MA. And the amazing War Memorial Stadium in Hampton, VA. The finals would need to be a very special summer collegiate baseball league park. And could rotate every summer to showcase that league’s pride and joy park, the one everyone tells you to go to if you tell them you are a baseball fan.

Finish the tournament by August 15th. Sponsors from all of the national baseball scene would be climbing over each other to be a part of this. Bat companies, baseball companies, uniform companies – would all love a chance to showcase their goods and services to a national audience. Ticket prices have to stay at or around the normal rates. The fans who attend these summer collegiate games should not be shut out due to price. They attend games in June to August with their coolers and lawn chairs and tiny American flags waving proudly. Those are the fans I would want attending this end of the summer tournament. Maybe the winning team gets to host the following year’s tournament finals? Or you can rotate the finals randomly like the MLB All-Star game sites.

There are a zillion details not included in this article related to starting, operating, running, and organizing a tournament of this magnitude. I get that. This is just an idea, perhaps others will read it and say, “not bad, this is what I would add,” and we can steamroll into a group of interesting parties willing to turn a dream of a tournament like this into reality. Personally, I would love to see a team from Alaska play a team from North Carolina in a tournament game in Newport, RI. I think that would be a summer treat equal to a soft serve twist from Brickley’s Ice Cream on a super hot and humid August afternoon. In others words, it would be sweet!!!

Thoughts and comments, send me an email at ribaseballexperience@gmail.com or fill out this contact form: