The Team Emery Classic is a baseball tournament that was originally founded to raise money for Jacob Medina in order to pay for his medical bills. The tournament first started in 2020 and has 24 teams participating. This year it is dedicated to Jeff Forney, who recently passed away and to help raise money to help support his family.

Throughout his life, Forney was very involved in the baseball community. Along with being a former professional baseball player, he was the owner of Jeff Forney’s Triple Threat Baseball Performance Center, was the assistant coach at Notre Dame and Arizona State University (ASU), and was a strength coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He even had a cable TV show called Baseball University at one point.

“He was all about teaching the game… That’s why we decided to do the camp,” said varsity baseball coach Damien Tippett. 

Along with the tournament, this year, Team Emery is also doing a camp dedicated to Forney. This is the first year the team is doing the camp which is taking place on Sept. 25 from 5-8pm at the Tempe Diablo Stadium. It is a youth camp where anyone from 1st-8th grade can sign up and is being taught by coaches from all across the valley and even some former Major League Baseball players. 

“We’re going to put them through agilities, throwing, catching, in-field work, out-field routes and communication, hitting drills using Jeff’s terminology,” said Tippett. 

The annual tournament, which is different from the camp, is also being held at Tempe Diablo Stadium, where 24 participating teams from all over the valley will come and compete against each other. The tournament will be played in the traditional style in which the winner moves forward.

In order to celebrate Forney’s legacy, Team Emery will be hosting a celebration event which will include games, live music, food trucks, 9-square, cornhole, and spike ball. There will be a silent auction with all of the proceeds going to the Forney family to support them in their time of need. This celebration of Forney’s life is on Sept. 23 and starts at 4pm. More information on these events can be found here.

His legacy will “live on through his family and kids,” said Tippett.

Jeff Forney had a major impact on the baseball community with his involvement in a countless number of ways. These events will help to pay tribute to Forney and all he had done, and also help give back to his family.