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Members of the UAMS Department of Neurosurgery softball team pose before the tournament, with Sophia and Santiago, the son and daughter of coach Hector Soriano, M.D. Image by Bryan Clifton

UAMS Neurosurgeons Trade Scalpels for Bats at National Softball Tournament

June 17, 2026 | Residents and faculty in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) recently competed as one of 56 neurosurgery softball teams in a tournament in New York City’s Central Park.

The 21^st Annual Neurosurgery Charity Softball Tournament, a fundraising event for brain tumor research, is a one-day, elimination-style event in which neurosurgery teams from across the country and beyond compete on about a dozen fields in the North Meadow area of Central Park. The games began at 8 a.m. on June 6 and stopped at 7 p.m., with each divisional game shortened to three innings instead of the usual nine, to allow everyone to participate.

The winners of the divisional games, which included UAMS, advanced to the four-inning playoffs. At the end of the day, the Barrow Neurological Institute of Phoenix went home with bragging rights and a trophy, as it has in five of the last six years, with one year being rained out.

Hector Soriano, M.D., a UAMS neurosurgeon who directs the department’s Spine Division, was the team’s coach. He said the department was very excited about the new challenge, which marked the first time that UAMS was invited.

“According to the organizers, this is the first time a new team has made it to the playoffs in the last 15 years,” Soriano said.

In the first of the divisional games, Tennessee defeated Arkansas 2-1, and in the second game, Arkansas defeated New York University 6-0. Arkansas then beat the University of California San Diego 10-0, placing the UAMS neurosurgery team second in their division and advancing them to the playoffs, where they faced the Carolinas team but couldn’t play because of a scheduling conflict.

“I have been inspired by the team and feel this has brought our neurosurgery team together both on and off the field,” said Deanna Sasaki-Adams, M.D., MBA, chair of the UAMS Department of Neurosurgery. “It has been tremendous for morale, and I think has really made our department more cohesive. We had several nurses and nurse practitioners, as well as administrative assistants, also make the trip to New York City to cheer on our residents and faculty.”

“Our residents and faculty have been practicing and training since the first weekend in March,” Soriano said a couple of days before the team left Little Rock. “We’re not only reconstructing backs, and healing brains and spines, but we’re also building teams and putting Arkansas out there against teams across the country.”

In addition to Soriano and Sasaki-Adams, the UAMS team included a third faculty member, Analiz Rodriguez, M.D., Ph.D., MBA; two spine fellows, Jacob Taunton, M.D., and Eliezer Villaneueva, M.D.; and eight neurosurgery residents: Ryan Turner, M.D., Brooke Elberson, M.D., William Coggins, M.D., Zach Porter, M.D., Stenia Accilien, M.D., Kierany Shelvin, M.D., Jordyn Mullins, M.D., and Said Maldonado, M.D.

The tournament has grown over the years from a social event for neurosurgeons in New York City to a charity event that includes more than 700 neurosurgeons, residents, fellows and faculty, with significant sponsorship.

Since partnering with the Neurosurgery Research & Education Foundation (NREF) in 2014, the tournament has become “a critical source of funding for innovative research projects in neuro-oncology,” with over $1 million raised at last year’s 20^th anniversary event, according to an article in the Journal of Neurosurgery.