Greg Schnute has seen his share of success as the head of the East Cobb Bullets organization based out of Georgia.
This past year his 18U Gold team won the TC/USA National Championship in Atlanta behind the pitching of two top 2019 grads in Callie Turner (Tennessee) and Lexi Kilfoyl (Alabama) and the hitting sparked by current Baylor freshman standout infielder Kassidy Krupit.
Schnute has coached dozens, if not hundreds, of former, current and future DI players including Team USA and Florida Gator pitcher Kelly Barnhill.
And this week Schnute and the Bullets, in coordination with another championship-winning organization, Brook’s Cherry’s Tennessee Mojo program, announced the creation of a new high-level club showcase event that will launch next June.
“We’re pleased to announce the first annual America’s Fastpitch Classic,” Schnute told Extra Inning Softball on Thursday. “It will be based in the Atlanta area and run from Friday, June 21 to Sunday, June 23, 2019.”
Chris Florence, Owner of Atlanta Fastpitch Company, will help put the event together according to Schnute.
“What we’re trying to do is get the best teams in the country all the time as we want to make every game competitive. With that weekend open, it will be a good time to do it and to invite college coaches so they can watch games and player workouts. They can ask to see a player more, if they want to; it’s more flexible that way.”
Another benefit to the showcase, according to the head of the Bullets organization, is that “we will allow each team one hour on Friday for defensive practice and one hour on Saturday for offensive practice on a separate field for college coaches to watch.”
The showcase will consist of three groups of 16 teams in each age group of 14U, 16U, and 18U Gold with the 16 team names to be drawn out of a hat to determine how the pools are set.
The games will consist of 7-innings with no time limit for bracket games with each team playing four pool games with a single elimination on Sunday. Each team will play two games each on Friday and Saturday.
The 14U and 16U games will be played at North Park in Alpharetta with the 18U Gold bracket played at Sandy Plains in Marietta.
Game balls will be provided along with scorekeepers and scoreboards and the cost of the AFC is $1,295.
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For more information on the event and how to be considered for entry, contact Atlanta Fastpitch Company via email at atlantafastpitchcompany@gmail.com or by phone at 470-765-8699.
