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Pony League Baseball World Series Opens Friday In Pa.

By Staff | Aug 9, 2012

The 61st annual Pony League Baseball World Series, for ages 13 and 14, is set to begin on Friday, Aug. 10, at Lew Hays Pony Field in Washington Park in Washington, Pa.

Ten of the world’s best 13- and 14-year-old baseball teams will play for the right to be crowned the 2012 Pony League World Series Champions.

Seven of the 10 teams have already qualified for the Pony League World Series. Caguas, Puerto Rico, will represent the Caribbean Zone and play East Zone Champion, New Bedford, Mass., in the opening game of the 2012 Pony League World Series at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 10. Bay City, Mich., defeated Davenport, Iowa, to advance and represent the North Zone against the Host Area champion on Friday, Aug. 10, at 8 p.m. There are three teams left battling for the Host Area spot: Johnstown, Pa., North Allegheny, Pa. and Shaler, Pa..

There are three teams battling it out in Watsonville, Calif., for the West Zone representative; Kauai, Hawaii; Long Beach, Calif.; and Campbell, Calif. The West Zone winner will face Mexico Champion Guasave, Sinaola, in game three on Saturday, Aug. 11, at 3 p.m. Inaugural European Zone Champion, Paderborn, Germany, will square off against the host Washington, Pa., in game four scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 11.

In the final game of day two Asia Pacific Zone champion, Taipei, Taiwan, will face the winner of the Caguas, PR and New Bedford, Mass., game.

On Sunday, Aug. 12, there will be three games. In the first game the South Zone Champion will face off against the West Zone and Mexico game winner. There are two teams left in the South Zone tournament, Laredo, Texas, and Brownsville, Texas. The 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. games will be elimination games.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday will feature two games daily at 5:30 and 8 p.m. If necessary there could be one, two, or no games on Friday. The 61st annual Pony League World Series Championship Game is schedule for Saturday, Aug. 18, at 1 p.m..

World Series activities are set to start on Friday morning at 11 a.m. with the annual Home Run Derby and the Fastest Runner competitions. Two players from each team will battle for the Home Run Derby championship.

One player from each team will vie for the Fastest Runner championship. A “Welcome to Washington County” picnic will be held after Home Run Derby hosted by the Washington County Chamber of Commerce. Admission is free for these events.

Saturday starts with the annual Champions League game at 10 a.m. The Champions League is the newest member of the PONY family and is specifically designed for players with special needs.

PONY believes that everyone who wants to play the great game of baseball should be given the opportunity regardless of physical or mental limitations. All 10 Pony League World Series teams will be present and participate with the Champions League teams. The Champions League players are from Fayette County and Washington County in Pennsylvania.

The “Breakfast of Champions” will be held Sunday morning at the Doubletree Hotel in the Meadowlands. Players and their families will be welcomed to Washington and the Pony League World Series. The featured speaker will be Washington Wild Things manager Chris Bando.

Daily tickets are available at the gate; adults $6 per day and children (14 and under) $4 per day. Parking is free. A World Series Pass is also available for $25 for adults and $15 for children (14 and under) for all games.

Pony League Baseball was founded in Washington, Pa., in 1951 with six original teams of 13- and 14-year-olds.

This is Washington’s 50th Pony League World Series being staged at the original field. Other cities to host the Pony League World Series include San Diego, Calif. (1964), National City, Calif. (1965, 1978), Ralston, Neb. (1966), Springfield, Ill. (1967, 1974, 1975), Pasadena, Texas (1977), Davenport, Iowa (1979, 1980) and Kennewick, Wash. (1983).

PONY (Protect Our Nation’s Youth) Baseball and Softball an international youth baseball and girls softball organization headquartered in Washington, Pa.

PONY represents more than 500,000 annual members in more than 2,500 communities throughout the United States and more than 25 other countries.