Memorial Day tournament brackets released

Brackets for the Holiday Park Baseball Club Memorial Day Tournament have been released and the Warriors are going to have to be at the top of their game. Our AA club has been placed in a pool with a Major and a AAA team.

The Warriors open play at 10 a.m. Saturday against Those Guys, who are classified as a Major. Earlier this year, Those Guys placed fourth at the Holiday Park Baseball Club Spring Classic and sixth at the May Madness NIT. Those Guys are currently ranked fifth out of six Major teams with 220 USSSA points.

Game two pits the Warriors against the AAA Iowa Yankees at 4 p.m. Saturday. The Yankees took second place at the HPBC Spring Classic and seventh at the May Madness NIT. The Yankees are currently ranked fifth out of 16 AAA teams with 230 USSSA points.

For our own part, the Warriors took third place at the Cedar Rapids Spring Classic, fourth place at the Play Ball Season Opener and fourth place at the Harley Steel Mother's Day Tournament. Out of 42 AA teams, the Warriors currently rank eighth in the state with 205 USSSA points.

Pool play on Friday and Saturday determines seeding for Sunday's championship tournament. The top eight seeds advance to the championship bracket with seeds 9-12 advancing to the silver bracket.

Here's a rundown of the pools and USSSA classifications for the Memorial Day tournament:

Pool A -- Rails Maroon AA, Altoona Sky Sox Major, Valley Junction Venom AA.
Pool B -- Those Guys Major, CR Warriors AA, Iowa Yankees AAA.
Pool C -- Carlisle Wildcats AAA, The Wild AA, Omaha Stampede AAA.
Pool D -- West Des Moines Rebels AA, South Des Moines Fusion AA, Sting AAA.

The HPBC Memorial Day Tournament is an NIT tournament. First and second place finishers receive berths to the USSSA World Series. USSSA point allocations range from 150 for first place to 50 for 12th.