Rangers Youth Academy’s top 12-and-under ballplayers to showcase skills in Wood Bat Classic

The Texas Rangers Youth Academy’s annual 12U Wood Bat Classic makes its return next weekend on Saturday, March 2 and Sunday, March 3.

The tournament will see four 12-and-under teams swap out their metal bats for solid wood, just like the Major Leaguers and duke it out in pool play, with the top two teams advancing to Sunday’s title game to decide the 2024 Winter 12U Wood Bat Classic champions.

The Texas Rangers Youth Academy will compete with three top-tier teams comprised of 45 of the best young male and female baseball players. Rounding out the field of competition as the fourth and final team will be 12 of Mercy Street’s very best, coached by Jessie Casillas and Daniel Montalbano.

Rangers Youth Academy coach Joe Vasquez will lead the Express, coach Roger Ibarra the Crawdads and coaching Down East will be Dash Johnson and Josh Marcellus, who are looking to lead their team to back-to-back championship wins.

Players to watch this year include infielders Federico Sifuentes, Kyree Shine and Carter Washington, pitchers Aaliyah Marquez and Xantana Guzman, catcher Jaiden Williams and two-way powerhouse Maddox Fore. Team rosters will be announced early next week.

The third iteration of the tournament will feature four guaranteed games, three pool play games, and, on Sunday, the championship game for the top two-seeded teams and a consolation game for the third and fourth-seeded teams.

All games, excluding the championship game, will be played in six innings, or 1 hour and 45 minutes, whichever occurs first, and will see batters start with a 1-1 count. The championship game, however, will be played under traditional rules, with a 0-0 starting count and six innings of play with no time limit.

All games are open to the public and free to attend, with the full schedule outlined below.