Cal Ripken World Series to begin Friday in Aberdeen

The 17th annual Cal Ripken World Series, which features some of the world's best 12-year old baseball teams, will be back in action Friday at The Ripken Experience Aberdeen Powered By Under Armour youth baseball complex.Eighteen teams – 10 domestic and eight from around the world – will battle in four groups with each playing for the same goal: to become World Series champions. Of the domestic teams, eight are region champs, while the Maryland State and Harford County champs fill in the field.It all gets started Friday with Opening Day, that includes the Skills Challenge and Home Run Derby. This year's derby will include newly added pink and purple money balls for the hitters in honor of Big League Chew iconic flavors Outta' Here Original and Groundball Grape. The preliminary rounds for both events will take place earlier in the day; the finals will be part of the opening ceremonies set to begin at 5 p.m. at Cal, Sr.'s Yard.&quot;It's that time of year again and I am excited that we are once again hosting the annual Cal Ripken World Series in our hometown of Aberdeen,&quot; Cal Ripken Jr. said Monday. &quot;The support that we receive year in and year out is tremendous and we couldn't do it without our terrific host families, fans and volunteers.&quot;All 18 teams will be introduced as part of the ceremony. Group A teams are Honolulu, Hawaii, Pacific Southwest; Southeast Denver, Colo., Midwest Plains; New Milford, Conn., New England; Florence, Ala., Southwest; and Bel Air, the Maryland champ.Group B teams are Southeast Lexington, Ky., Ohio Valley; Kennewick, Wash., Pacific Northwest; Marlton, N.J., Middle Atlantic; Atlantic Beach, Fla., Southeast; and Hickory, the Harford champ.With Hickory and Bel Air both playing in the series, it marks the first time two Harford County teams will be in the series together.Group C international teams are New Zealand, Japan, Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic, while Group D teams are Australia, Mexico, Republic of Korea and Canada.The first game of the series will take place at 8 p.m. Friday, pitting Hickory against Marlton, N.J. in a Group B pool game. An additional 31 pool games will be played Saturday through next Wednesday on Cal Sr.'s Yard and Nationals Field. Four international crossover games will also be played, but results will not impact pool standings.Ultimately, the top two teams from each pool will advance onto Thursday's United States and International semifinals. The winners will advance to the U.S. and International title games Aug. 5; the final two will play for the World Series title Aug. 6 at 8 p.m. All tournament games are free to the public. Tickets are available online at www.RipkenBaseball.com/world_series.New to the series this year is the Ripken Futures Game, a game featuring 12-year old ballplayers from across the country.&quot;We always try to improve the event each year and this year we will be introducing the Ripken Futures Game that will feature 24 of the country's top 12-year-old ballplayers,&quot; Ripken said. &quot;The game will be played right before the World Series Championship Game at Cal Sr.'s Yard and two terrific former big leaguers, John Franco and David Justice, will serve as the managers.&quot;The championship rounds of the series will also be available to fans on TV and online.&quot;As I have said in the past we always look for solid media partners so many more can watch the event and we can provide the ballplayers with that major league experience,&quot; Ripken said. &quot;This year the final three games of the CRWS will be broadcast on Fox Sports 2 and live streamed on MLB.com and FoxSportsGo.com and the Futures Game will be live on MLB.com. I look forward to seeing everyone out there next week.&quot;

Cal Ripken World Series to begin Friday in Aberdeen

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