Regional baseball tournament is two months away
Sports reporter
For a five-day period in July, Marion will be the baseball capital of Kansas.
A total of eight teams from seven states will make up the field July 25-30 for the 2008 Cal Ripken 12-and-under Midwest regional baseball tournament.
Each year the regional tournament rotates between seven Midwestern states, and it happened to be Kansas' turn in 2008.
The winner of the tournament will advance to the Cal Ripken 12-year-old World Series in Aberden, Md.
Local youth baseball coach Casey Case put in a bid for the tournament this past summer.
In September he found out Marion would be the host.
"It was basically selling your town," Case said of the bidding process to earn the rights to host. "The whole community is getting behind this project."
Case said Marion Mayor Mary Olson, two city council members, and about 12 other families already have offered to house players from the seven visiting teams.
Case said the goal is to have each team stay close together in the same neighborhood.
Other ways the community is coming together for the event are the improvements at the Marion Baseball/Softball Complex.
Seacat Do-it-Best Home Center donated a press box for B-field (where all regional games will be played), and was able to construct a new bathroom on site for a price the city could afford.
Dave Shiplet of Ship, Shape Roofing of Marion provided new lumber for bleachers and the picnic tables at the ballpark.
A portable fence that can set anywhere from 185 to 225-feet away from home plate will be used for the games.
Case said the fence was secured with the help of Marion-Florence USD 408, Tampa State Bank, Case and Son Insurance, and the booster's club.
Case said he also has had community members tell him they would be willing to help in other capacities.
The baseball/softball commission will need people to work the gate, concession stand, announce games, and keep score.
The team
A community-wide tryout will be held sometime before the tournament for any 11 or 12-year-old boy interested in playing.
The prospective players will participate in hitting, fielding, and pitching drills, and will receive grades for their physical effort and attitude.
Tryout volunteers who help decide which players make the team will be unaffiliated with the players trying out.
The Babe Ruth League official age cutoff date is May 1, which means any 12-year-old can try out, even if he turns 13 after the cutoff date.
Once the roster is set, the team will practice and play a few games to gear up for the late-July tournament.
The tournament will begin with a picnic at 6:30 p.m. July 25, and the first game will be played at noon on July 26.
Marion will hit the field for the first time at 7 p.m. July 26 against the North Dakota state champion.
The eventual champion will have to win either four or five games to move on during the double-elimination tournament.
Case said the town should be, and is, excited for the opportunity.
"The field is being specifically groomed for this tournament," he said.
In just a few short months, seven other teams will see just what the Marion community has accomplished by working together.
