TONIGHT: Cal Ripken World Series Opening Ceremony
The Cal Ripken World Series brings 16 youth teams to Aberdeen starting this week.
Teams from 10 United States communities and six nations will compete in the Cal Ripken World Series beginning Friday in Aberdeen.
The tournament centers around the Ripken Youth Baseball Complex and Cal Sr.'s Yard, kicking off with Friday's opening ceremonies.
The opening ceremonies begin at 5 p.m. and feature a skills competition at 5:30 p.m., followed by an 8 p.m. game between the Middle Atlantic representatives from Bronx, NY, and the Harford County host team from Forest Hill.
The skills competition features baserunning, around the horn, outfield throwing and a home run derby.
United States teams in the tournament include: Forest Hill (Harford County), Boyds (MD state champ), Newtown, CT (New England), Longview, WA (Pacific Northwest), Mililani, HI (Pacific Southwest), Little Rock, AR (Southwest), Bronx, NY (Middle Atlantic), Lamar, CO (Midwest Plains), Matoon, IL (Ohio Valley) and Jupiter, FL (Southeast).
International teams include Australia, Canada, Dominican Republic, Japan, Mexico and the Republic of Korea.
The 13th annual tournament will play out from Friday through Aug. 19 at the complex, which features youth fields modeled after professional ballparks—such as Fenway Park and Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Aberdeen will host a parade on Saturday to help kick-off the tournament.
The games will be broadcast on SFMsports.net and fans can follow along on both Facebook and Twitter.
TELL US: Will you be attending the Cal Ripken World Series? What team are you looking forward to seeing?
Justine Gaffney
2:43 pm on Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Go Newtown. My grandson, Dylan Champagne is there and I am so proud of him. Go all the way. Love, Grandma Gaffney