CMWS 2025 qualifying tournament schedule announced

Eight tournaments held across the western United States will help shape the 12-team field

FARMINGTON – A trio of new qualifying tournaments will culminate preparation for the 2025 Connie Mack World Series, which will be held in Farmington next summer.

In addition to a New Mexico qualifying tournament in Farmington beginning July 2, there will also be a qualifying tournament in Spokane, Washington, scheduled to begin June 12. Another new qualifying tournament, which will take place in Franklin, Texas, begins June 12th.

These qualifying tournaments replace the tournaments held in Canada and Louisiana last year. The list of eight qualifying tournaments was released by the American Amateur Baseball Congress earlier this week.

The 2025 Connie Mack World Series, which opens Friday, July 25, is headlined by four automatic qualifiers, including the defending champion Southern California Renegades. The Midland (Ohio) Redskins, Dallas D-Bat and the Texas Twelve, winners of the 2024 Don Mattingly World Series, make up the quartet of teams that receive automatic entry into the prestigious annual event.

The addition of a tournament in Spokane, Washington, called the Northwest Qualifier, comes at a time when there has been renewed interest in the CMWS from area teams.

“We received great support from teams from Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon and Nebraska who wanted to play,” said AABC Vice President Shannon Enfield. “We’re trying to get into areas of the country where there hasn’t been involvement in the past.”

The Canadian qualifier, played in Ontario in recent years, has struggled to attract more teams. Six teams have participated in Canadian qualifying each of the last two summers, with the Mississauga Tigers reaching the CMWS in both editions.

“We need to see an improvement in the numbers of qualifiers and both years there were six,” Enfield said. “Travel teams are interested, but each of them does things differently and the distance between the eastern part of the country and Farmington is difficult for some of these teams.”

The addition of a second tournament in Texas has drawn interest from teams throughout the South, including Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

The third addition to the qualifying tournament schedule is the New Mexico Qualifying Tournament, which features teams from across the state. The winner of the New Mexico Qualifier will compete in the Connie Mack World Series regardless of what part of the state they come from and must include at least six players from the Farmington area on their roster for CMWS games.

The New Mexico Qualifier is conducted in conjunction with Five Tool Baseball, a national organization based in Keller, Texas, that handles tournament operations in nearly 20 states across America.

“(Five Tool) can run these tournaments fully staffed with site managers and people actively involved, as well as a full-time communications center,” Enfield said. “They guarantee these teams travel funds and have a good business concept. We know we will have a balanced tournament.”

The addition of the New Mexico Qualifier has sparked much discussion about the future of the Connie Mack World Series, which has always featured a locally based team. In recent years, teams from San Juan County have struggled to compete with teams from across the country.

In the last five editions of the Connie Mack World Series, the team representing Farmington and San Juan County has combined to win two games while losing 22 games and tying once.

The Southern California Renegades celebrate their Connie Mack World Series championship victory after defeating Midland Baseball 6-0 on August 2 at Ricketts Park. (Curtis Ray Benally/Special to the Tri-City Record)

Curtis Ray Benally

While nothing has been confirmed as to which areas of the state will send representative teams to the New Mexico Qualifier, Enfield said there is already a lot of interest in the event.

“I think it’s worth having this tournament just to see what comes out of it,” Enfield said. “No one really knows locally, but I think it could spur people across the state to develop a system that isn’t just at their local high schools.”

For more information on the Connie Mack World Series, visit AABC.us.

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