Spring is for baseball. Professional baseball hasn’t begun, but high schoolers are in full swing, and the Drew Medford Memorial Tournament is returning to deliver three full days of diamond-encrusted bliss. The memorial tournament, which awards a scholarship to one player from each participating team, is bestowed in the name of former Paschal High School player, all-state honoree, and TCU commit Drew Medford, who died in an automobile accident in August 2016.
The 24-team varsity tournament features mostly North Texas squads competing at schools in Fort Worth, Aledo, and Mansfield. Paschall, Arlington Heights, and Country Day high schools will each host three or four games on both Thursday and Friday. Arlington Heights and Paschall will host two Saturday games apiece, and Trinity Valley School will host two games as well. Aledo is hosting games all three days for the western dwellers, and Mansfield Summit and Legacy are hosting throughout the tournament to the east.
High school baseball is a great reprieve from the measured precision of professional — especially since they’re currently locked out — and so is college baseball as games are prone to volatile momentum swings and are not subject to the sometimes arduous pace of pro-level play.
The tournament kicks off with a Facebook live event from the tournament’s account at 6:30pm today with a guest appearance and speech from Paschall and University of Texas alumnus Hoby Milner, who is currently playing for the Milwaukee Brewers and attended school with Drew’s older brother, Michael.
If you had to circle one game to attend, I’d suggest 11am Sat at Paschal High School to watch the ninth-ranked South Grand Prairie Warriors battle the 29th-ranked Mansfield Lake Ridge Eagles. Both 6A squads have deep rosters and expectations of long playoff runs this season. The Warriors and Eagles met once already with SGP hosting and winning, but the climax of a multiday tournament could turn the tables on the top-ranked team attending the Drew Medford Memorial Tournament. Visit DrewMedford.org/tournament-schedule/ for the full Thu-Sat schedule.
