Baseball Academy of Arkansas: June 2010

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Michael Smith-Perfect Game Showcase

The ABA would like to congratulate catcher Michael Smith on his addition to the Perfect Game Showcase next week in Atlanta, Georgia. Smith, out of Whitehall and UA-Monticello signee, will be playing with Team Canada after receiving a recommendation from his catching instructor here in Arkansas.

Team Canada will be playing in the Perfect Game tournament with over 100 other teams from around the United States.

Great job Michael.

Monday, June 21, 2010

All Arkansas Team

The ABA is proud to announce that three members of the program have been named to the All Arkansas Team.

Wil Nicks - .460 Avg, 14 doubles, 9 HRs, 29 RBI
Jordan Spears - .441 Avg, 9 HRs, 38 RBI
Sam Vogel - .479 Avg, 9 doubles, 7 HRs, 35 RBI

Congratulations to these players.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

ABA Wins Benton Tourney

This weekend the first ABA Summer team went 4-1 en route to a championship game victory over Conway Sunday afternoon.

The ABA lost the 9:00 AM game on Saturday and then went on to win two games Saturday and two more on Sunday to take the tournament. A slow offensive start ended in an explosion of hits and runs scored in the final 4 games. Tournament wins came against Catholic, Mayflower, Benton, and finally Conway.

Congratulations to the team and well done. ABA will be traveling to Jonesboro next weekend to take on Conway, Wynne, and Vilonia before beginning bracket play on Sunday.

Coach Bryan Jones

Out of high school Jones went to Richland Community College in Dallas, Texas where he and the Thunderducks finished runner-up at the NJCAA World Series. Jones was selected as a member of the World Series All-Tournament Team and was named to the All-Region Team for his duties behind the plate.

After that Bryan finished his playing career at Ouachita Baptist University (OBU). While at OBU Jones was an All Gulf South Conference (GSC) catcher in 2002. He would later become an assistant coach at OBU and would help guide the Tigers to their first ever GSC tournament berth in 2005.

After leaving OBU, Coach Jones has been on staff at Benton, Pulaski Academy and Catholic High School. Jones has been a part of two Conference championships and seen 6 players move on to play NCAA Division I baseball as well as many others at the various collegiate levels.

Bryan and his wife Rebecca currently live in Benton.

Pitching Coach-Kevin Sheredy

Kevin Sheredy-Pitching Coach

Coach Sheredy is a graduate of East Kentwood High School in Kentwood, Michigan. After being a three sport athlete in high school Sheredy started his college career at the University of Arkansas in 1994. After two yeas with the Razorbacks Sheredy moved to the West Coast to finish his collegiate career at UCLA. From there Kevin was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 7th round of the Major League Baseball draft. After playing professionally for 9 seasons, including time spent with the Arkansas Travelers and Memphis Redbirds, Sheredy serves as an assistant coach at Little Rock Catholic High School. Kevin also spends the fall working with the Arkansas Baseball Academy as their lead pitching instructor.