It’s Thursday evening and my wife Shannon and I made it safely to the Phoenix area and are excited to be in town through Monday for one of the biggest and most talent-laden club tourneys of the winter: the Arizona Last Blast V (meaning this is Year #5).

The event runs from Friday through Sunday (Jan. 24-26) with the championships of each age group, 12U through 18U, to take place on Sunday at Arizona State’s Alberta B. Farrington Stadium

Click HERE to see where each age division will be playing in the Phoenix area prior to the title games.

Ramsey Harkness, the successful travel ball coach and event director who owns 1Swing Events, is the man behind the AZ Last Blast event and remembers the first year when he and his crew were new to the events world but got off to a great start with a lineup of many of the top club teams in the country.

“We started towards the end of COVID,” he recalls, “and it was the first tournament I ever ran, but we had some great teams to start off with including the Beverly Bandits, Tennessee Mojo, Athletics – Mercado, Corona Angels, So Cal A’s, Arizona Storm and Hotshots, to name a few.”

Look closely at that list of attendees this weekend and you’ll similarly notice elite teams attending from all areas of the country—from the West Coast and Southwest to the Midwest and South.

“This year,” Harkness says, “we’ll have 170 teams after having 60 that first year.”

There’s another fun feature that we at Line Drive Softball are very much behind… and we’ll let Coach Ramsey reveal what it is.

“We’re really excited to feature the Line Drive All-Tournament team that will be announced Sunday at Farrington Stadium.”

That’s right… not only will me and my wonderful wife be in attendance, we’ll also be working with the club team coaches and the staff members of the event to  help select and honor deserving athletes.

The Last Blast, however, primarily focuses on team experiences and improvements heading into this summer and there’s one org that all will be watching closely: the Athletics Mercado/Smith organization.

Ramsey explains why.

“At 18’s, the A’s have won the title three of the four years played so far,” he continues, “and they often have winners at multiple ages.”

Year 5, as shown by the attending teams below, looks to be the biggest and likely the best of the Last Blast tourneys so far and provide what can be a regular problem this time of the year: competitive club softball at an elite level. 

— Brentt Eads/Line Drive Softball

*****

ATTENDING TEAMS (By Age Division)

18U

• Arizona Rising Appel
• Arizona Rising GNR
• AZ Rising Vela
• Arizona Storm – BW
• Arizona Storm Downes
• Arizona Storm Mathis
• Arizona Storm Sheehan
• Arizona Storm Walding
• Arizona Storm Westover
• Athletics Mercado Smith
• AZ Hotshots – Delsante/Carroll
• AZ Hotshots Georges/Honea
• AZ Hotshots Mavoides
• Breakers Labs 18U Gold Bobby
• BSC Bengals Gurule 18u
• California Grapettes Kapp Gold
• CO Altitude DePlante
• Desert Thunder Mazura
• Desert Thunder Rosty
• Explosion Indian
• Firecrackers Premier RTY
• Firecrackers Wallace
• GenuWIn Reign 18u KW National
• Impulse Nielson 18U
• Intensity 18U KOD/Haefeli
• Intensity 18U KOD/BOD
• Lady Dukes Lamar
• Lady Magic
• Lil Rebels Gordie/TC
• Lil Saints
• LTG Henderson
• LV Blast
• Mojo Rise
• New Mexico Zias
• Newtown Rock Gold-Garvey **
• NW Bullets Campos
• NW Bullets McGee
• NW Bullets Qualls
• Oregon Blaze Boynay
• Power Surge Walling
• Prodigy Steinhauser
• Rogue FC Kaye
• SoCal A’s Richardson
• SoCal Choppers VC
• Tennessee Mojo Ramsey/Corey
• Tennessee Mojo Ramsey/Fisher
• Tennessee Mojo Ramsey/Holland
• Top Gun Turner
• USA Athletics Embrey
• USA Athletics AZ – Kennelly
• USA Athletics 18u Gold Rogers
• USA Prime Zappa
• USA Premier 18U Zepeda/Bowles
• Utah Fastpitch Club – Korth
• Vanquish Fastpitch 18u Lichtner
• VOODOO Rhinehart
• Warrior Academy McDonald
• Washington Ladyhawks Gonzalez
• Washington Ladyhawks Seeley
• Washington Ladyhawks Miller/Simpson
• White Rock Renegades
• Wisconsin Lightning

*****

16U

• Absolute Blast Rafferty
• Absolute Blast Pettitt/Jeske
• ai Bandits Breer
• ai Bandits Breer JRB
• Arizona Rising Kobasew
• Arizona Rising Appel/Thies
• Arizona Rising Hamel
• Arizona Rising Mabrey 27s
• Arizona Slammers/BOSS
• Arizona Storm Captain
• Arizona Storm Mendez
• Arizona Storm Hill Royer
• Athletics Mercado East Valley
• Athletics Mercado Hovermale
• Athletics Mercado Mack
• Athletics Mercado – Mangini/Okayama 09
• Athletics Mercado RC 08
• Athletics Mercado Tidd 09
• AZ Hotshots Murphy
• AZ Hotshots 16U Gold – Petersen
• Beverly Bandits Kam
• Breakers Labs Cullivan
• Breakers Labs Keusch/Guzman
• Breakers Labs Vega
• Desert Thunder MGM
• Explosion Indian
• Explosion Pacho
• Firecrackers AZ-Adsuara/Roth
• Firecrackers Select RTY
• Genuwin Reign TM 16U
• Intensity 16U BOD/KOD
• Intensity KOD/KP
• Jersey Intensity 16U KOD/Kelliher
• Lady Dukes Lamar/Mayfield
• Lady Magic-EM
• Level Up
• Lil Saints Gold
• LTG Henderson
• LTG Carda
• Mound Time
• NW Bullets Hornback
• NW Vandals Terry
• Power Surge Berndes/Mujica
• Power Surge Walling/Pearlstein
• Power Surge Walling/SOS
• Rogue FC Camacho
• Rogue FC Fraley
• Rogue FC JDecker
• Select Fastpitch Wieligman/Dragon
• So Cal Athletics 16U Colon/Richardson
• Team Hustle Ladrigue
• Team Hustle Roman
• Team Hustle Williams
• Tennessee Mojo Ramsey/Morales
• Tucson Rebels Wild/Sztan
• Unity Johnson/Ricks
• Universal Coleman
• Valley Waves Lindvall/Platt
• WA Acer’s Trippy 
• Warrior Academy McDonald
• Washington Ladyhawks Miller/Fairbairn 
• Wildcats Premier 16U
• Windmills 09
• Wisconsin Lightning 16u 26/27 

*****

14U

• 520 Ballerz Corona
• ai Bandits Breer
• Arizona Cats Boone 28/29
• Arizona Rising Lopez
• Arizona Rising Mabrey 11s
• Arizona Storm Carroll/Campbell
• Arizona Storm Ellis
• Arizona Storm Lavine
• AZ Storm Pomeroy
• Arizona Storm Schoeneweis
• Athletics Mercado AZ 2K10
• Athletics Mercado Mack
• Athletics Mercado/Shelton
• Athletics Mercado Tidd
• Athletics Mercado Walker
• AZ Hotshots – Keezer
• Breakers Labs Avalos/Garcia
• Chicago Prospects 14u Premier
• Explosion Indian
• FC RTY Rich
• IMG Langlois/Depalma
• Intensity Florida Pascual
• Lady Magic-Asia
• Lil Saints
• LTG Buck
• LTG Pettis
• LV Blast 2011 14U
• Newtown Rock 14U Kiskurno/Garvey
• NW Bullets Campos/Johnson
• NW Bullets 14U Keith
• Power Surge Walling
• RogueFc Choate
• Rogue FC Ketchum
• Rogue FC Martinez
• Strykers National Esparza
• Team Hustle Matuz/LaDrigue
• Tennessee Mojo Ramsey/Holland
• Wildcats Holcomb/Knight
• Washington Lady A’s
• WA Ladyhawks Campbell
• Washington Ladyhawks KCZ
• Washington Shock 

*****

12U

• Arizona Rising – Hatch 2013
• Arizona Rising Weber 2012
• Arizona Storm Beach
• Arizona Storm Moloney
• Arizona Storm Rodriguez
• AZ Blaze Flores
• AZ Bolts D’Alessandro
• AZ Impact Pollock 2012s
• Breakers Labs 12u – Mejia
• Firecrackers Leles/Garrett
• Tennessee Mojo Ramsey/Holland
• Washington Ladyhawks