FARMINGTON – A total of 36 elite 18-and-under baseball programs across the region will look to take their first step towards qualifying for the 2026 Connie Mack World Series when they meet in the Five Tool Colorado AABC Qualifier beginning Tuesday, June 9.
For the champion of the grueling wood-bat tournament, the prize is a golden ticket: a paid automatic berth to the Connie Mack World Series which opens Friday, July 24.
The Colorado qualifier is the first of eight tournaments held over the course of five weeks across the country. Two of those tournaments will be held in Texas, with similar events held in California, Oklahoma, Washington and Missouri.
The most recently added tournament to the CMWS qualifiers is the host team qualifying event, which will open July 1 at Ricketts Park.
While the Colorado qualifying tournament brings top-tier high school prospects and Major League Baseball scouts to venues like Metropolitan State University of Denver, Regis University and Colorado Christian University, the specter of Ricketts Park looms large.
To earn that trip to the CMWS, teams must first endure a strict four-game guarantee. A powerful contingent of local Colorado squads headlines the 36-team field. The powerhouse Slammers baseball program, based out of Broomfield and Englewood, anchors the bracket with multiple select teams.
Other formidable Colorado-based contenders hungry for a trip to Farmington include the Catalyst Cardinals, Colorado Angels, Colorado Rogue, USA Prime Colorado, HitStreak Elite and the RoughRiders.
Representing northern Colorado will be programs like the Northside Dirt Devils, Canes Denver and Forward Elite.
A total of six teams representing the state of New Mexico are scheduled to take part in the Colorado qualifier. The Albuquerque Baseball Academy will be joined by the 4 Corners squad as well as other teams from various locations across the state.
The level of participation in qualifying tournaments has grown substantially in recent years. Last year, more than 180 teams took part in regional qualifiers.
“Last year, I believe we were up about 50-70 teams from the year before,” said Shannon Enfield, senior vice president of the American Amateur Baseball Congress. “Part of the reason is a trend to the return of 18-and-under baseball which coincides with the decrease in high school recruiting due to the transfer portal. Another reason is a general feeling among clubs that our events are well organized and are populated by the best summer clubs.”
In addition to the teams which win the qualifying tournaments, the lineup of teams participating in the CMWS include automatic qualifiers like the Dulin’s Dodgers, which won the tournament last year. Added to that list are the Midland (Ohio) Redskins and D-Bat United Baseball (Dallas).