Collegiate baseball league returns to Springdale

SPRINGDALE -- There'll be plenty to see with the return of baseball at Tyson Park, but a primary attraction is what fans won't see.

They won't see signs about masks and social distancing or yellow tape, which prevented fans from sitting in the bleachers last season when there were a number of restrictions because of covid-19.

"No restrictions this year," said J.T. Baker, who owns Perfect Timing Baseball. "We're ready to roll."

The Perfect Timing Collegiate Baseball League is back with a full schedule of games beginning Monday and concluding July 15 with a championship game and home run derby. The league includes four teams from Northwest Arkansas and four teams from Tulsa. High school and college players are expected to participate in at least two games each night Monday though Thursday for 2 1/2 months.

Attendance is free and the action begins Monday with PT Blue and PT Red taking the field at 5:30 p.m., followed by PT Gray and PT White at 7:30 p.m. Four games will be played Tuesday at Fields 1 and 2 at Tyson Park.

Plenty of local athletes have signed up, including high school players from Fayetteville, Bentonville, Springdale and Rogers.

Drew Sturgeon of Farmington played in the league last year before heading to the University of Central Arkansas, where he started 42 of 45 games as a freshman for the Bears. A handful of University of Arkansas players -- including Brady Slavens, Matthew Goodheart and Christian Franklin -- stayed active by participating in the league after the Razorbacks' season was canceled after 16 games, but the Razorbacks are playing in the NCAA Tournament after being ranked No. 1 in the country for most of the season this year.

Still, top players from programs not involved in the NCAA Tournament are expected to participate. That list includes outfielder Keylon Mack, who started 25 of 30 games from Grambling State this season, and pitchers Reed Ronan of Oral Roberts and Andrew McGlynn of Arkansas State University.

"We put ourselves on the map last year when a lot of leagues were shut down," Baker said. "Guys got a lot of reps here last year and we've got more coming from places like Grambling, where Keylon Mack played."

Besides teams from Northwest Arkansas, fans at Tyson Park can watch players from the Tulsa Sandlot League headed by Gunner Glad, a former standout who played collegiately at San Diego State and Kentucky.

"We are blessed to be able to give these players another option for college summer baseball," Glad said. "It will be a high level of quality baseball day in and day out."