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Frank Brown Park to host powerful prep softball tourney
Friday’s schedule
- 5 p.m.: Gulliver Prep vs. Dothan, Field 8; Mosley vs. Sparkman, Field 2; Arnold vs. Daphne, Field 9; Trinity Prep vs. Hatton, Field 3; Marianna vs. Osceola, Field 4.
- 7 p.m.: Niceville vs. Dothan, Field 8; Mosley vs. Pine Castle, Field 2; Arnold vs. Winter Springs, Field 9; Hatton vs. Liberty County, Field 3; Bob Jones vs. Marianna, Field 4.
- 9 p.m.: Gulliver Prep vs. Niceville, 9 p.m.; Sparkman vs. Pine Castle, Field 2; Daphne vs. Winter Springs, Field 9; Trinity Prep vs. Liberty County, Field 3; Osceola vs. Bob Jones, Field 4.
Saturday’s schedule
- 9 a.m.: Mosley vs. Gulliver Prep, Field 8; Niceville vs. Sparkman, Field 2; Arnold vs. Hatton, Field 9; Daphne vs. Pine Castle, Field 3; Marianna vs. Dothan, Field 4.
- 11 a.m.: Bob Jones vs. Gulliver Prep, Field 8; Trinity Prep vs. Sparkman, Field 2; Hatton vs. Osceola, Field 9; Liberty County vs. Daphne, Field 3; Marianna vs. Winter Spring, Field 4.
- 1 p.m.: Bob Jones vs. Mosley, Field 8; Niceville vs. Trinity Prep, Field 2; Arnold vs. Osceola, Field 9; Pine Castle vs. Liberty County, Field 3; Dothan vs. Winter Springs, Field 4.
PANAMA CITY BEACH — Frank Brown Park is no stranger to hosting elite softball tournaments.
This weekend, however, will mark the first time the recreational facility has hosted a high school tournament of this caliber.
The first-ever Florida-Alabama Softball Challenge is slated for Friday and Saturday at Frank Brown Park. The event is comprised of 10 teams from Florida and five from Alabama, many of whom either are defending state champions or recently collected a state title. Arnold softball, with help from the Bay County Tourism Development Council and Shane’s Rib Shack, is hosting the event.
“We got together with the TDC and starting talking about this last year,” Arnold coach Rick Green said, noting Gulf Coast’s softball team is holding its own tournament at the complex. “What we wanted to do was bring big-caliber high school softball to Panama City Beach. We knew we had great facilities, and of course it’s filled up most the year. So we had to work around what dates were available.
“We got with (GC coach) Susan Painter, and we knew she had nine teams, and we said we can utilize the rest of the fields at the same time. It worked out to be a good thing.”
Arnold will be joined in the 15-team tournament by other Panhandle programs like Mosley, Liberty County, Marianna and Niceville, all of whom advanced to the postseason last year and rank among the top teams in this region of the state this year. Niceville is the defending Class 5A champion, and Green said the Eagles came aboard when he was able to secure the defending Class 3A champion, Gulliver Prep, for the tournament.
Before he knew it, Green was stockpiling a number of premier teams from Alabama, too. Dothan won the Class 6A state title last year, and Hatton was Alabama’s Class 2A champion. Sparkman, located near Huntsville, won Class 6A state titles in 2009 and 2006.
“The way this thing is set up is everybody plays four games,” Green said. “There are 30 games being plays, and 20 of them are the Florida-vs.-Alabama format. Each time a team wins, they get a point for their state. The state with the most points at the end will be declared the state champion. … We’ll also have a team champion. Every undefeated team gets a plaque, and the team champion will be based on the tiebreaker rules.”
Green said the tournament will provide area teams with a challenge they’d be hard-pressed to find elsewhere.
“This is the most competitive tournament I’ve ever put together, and I’ve put together quite a few of them,” Green said.
