Some of the top softball talent in the state will be in the limelight this weekend in Brewer, Hermon and Augusta.

The Maine High School Softball Coaches Association will be holding its Senior All-Star games Saturday evening at Cony High School in Augusta, at which time it will present the Miss Maine Softball award.

Also this weekend, six Maine teams will compete with squads from Illinois, Arizona, California and Colorado in a National Qualifier tournament for ages 18-and-under, which is being hosted by the Maine Amateur Softball Association. The tournament begins Friday evening.

The top high school senior players are scheduled to be on hand for the all-star games and award presentation Saturday, which will be held at Cony Park.

Players from Eastern Maine Classes A and B will combine to form one team and play their Western Maine counterparts. Eastern and Western Maine Classes C and D also team up and will play each other.

The A/B game will start at 5 p.m., followed by the awards ceremony for Miss Maine Softball and the Coach of the Year. The C/D game will start at 7:30 p.m.

The 2002 Players and Pitchers of the Year will also be honored. Those award winners include Bucksport’s Kelly White, Penquis of Milo’s Megan Russell, Deidra Ham of Lee, Erskine of South China’s Katie Mainville and Ashley Woodward of Narraguagus High in Harrington.

Among the six in-state teams expected for the National Qualifier tournament is the Maine Sting, which is comprised of athletes from local towns such as Bangor, Old Town and Bucksport. The Capital Mainiacs are based in Augusta and the Central Maine Express is made up of players from the Fairfield area.

Other Maine teams are the Southern Maine Destroyers, Maine Peaches (Buckfield area) and Cape (Cape Elizabeth area).

The winner of the tournament earns an automatic bid to the ASA National Tournament in August. The highest Maine finisher also earns a berth to the national tourney.

The Maine site is one of 16 around the country.

The tourney opens with the first round of pool play games, which are used to determine the seeding for the double-elimination tournament. Games will be held at Brewer’s Coffin Field, the softball field adjacent to the Brewer Motor Inn, and the Hermon High softball field. Each location will host a 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. game, with Coffin Field hosting an additional 8 p.m. game.

Each site will also host a pool play game Saturday at 8 a.m.

The tournament portion will begin Saturday at 11 a.m. at both sites.

The championship game is scheduled for Sunday at 1:30 p.m. with the “if necessary” game at 3 p.m.

Other teams scheduled to participate are the Windmills of Bartlett, Ill., the Mustangs of Scottsdale, Ariz., the Colorado Stars of Boulder, Colo., and the Orange County Dynasty of Fullerton, Calif.