The Kennewick American 12-U All-Star Baseball team is headed to Aberdeen, Maryland in next week for the Cal Ripken World Series! The team hopes to build on the success of last year's team which also made it to Maryland.

The team won the Pacific Regional Baseball championship, beating teams from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and British Columbia to earn the honor. Now, they're headed to Maryland, where they will compete with teams from all 50 states and internationally for the Cal Ripken World Series.

To give you an idea of the caliber of youth baseball played in Kennewick, KA ended up facing crosstown rival Kennewick National in the Washington State Championship game, and won. Both teams moved on to Regionals, where KA won it all. In Maryland, they will be competing not just against the U.S. teams from every state, but also Dominican Republic, Republic of South Korea, and Japan, Australia, Canada and Puerto Rico!

The Cal Ripken World Series is July 28th through August 6th. Kennewick American and Kennewick National feature baseball from ages 6 through 12, starting with Coach Pitch-T-Ball, then Minor Leagues where kids 7-9 face real pitching. Then there's Major 60 and Major 70 for the 10-12 year-olds. That name comes from the distance between the bases.  Virtually all little leagues across American use this type of designation.

KA and KN provide baseball for over 600 youth each year in the city. These kids deserve some help to make their dream trip come true. If you'd like to sponsor or help get them to Maryland, contact the Head Coach at (509)-947-7845 or the Team Mom at (509)-438-2629.  Tax deductible donations can be made to Kennewick American Youth Baseball (Tax ID #91-1179720).

As the parent of a former and a current Kennewick National player, I know how competitive and exciting this league is, and how much of a lifetime honor this is. Let's help these kids represent Kennewick and Washington state by getting them there.

 

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