Rec Baseball Teams Compete in League Tournament

The Midget and Cal Ripken rec baseball teams played their league tournament from June 12 to 19 at the Mandan Youth Baseball Fields. The championship games took place on June 19 at 7:30 p.m. Due to weather interference, the Cal Ripken championship ended in the 4th inning, and the Midget championship was moved to June 24 at 6 p.m.

Four teams competed in the Cal Ripken Tournament. The A’s and the Pirates competed in the final. The A’s claimed the first-place win after the storm cut the game short.

The Midget Tournament consisted of five teams. The A’s and the Yankees made it to the final, but were unable to start the game before the storm.

The Cal Ripken A’s Coach Darcy Wandy shared his thoughts on the tournament after securing first place.

“It was very competitive. Wish we could have played a few more innings than we did, but everybody played hard and it was a good round of baseball,” Wandy said. “Seeing kids evolve, seeing them put in the work, and the results that come with it are some of the best parts of helping coach a rec team. It’s been a good year of baseball.”

The Mandan rec baseball season starts in May and ends in July. T-ball (for 5-6 year olds), Pee Wee (for 7-8 year olds), Midgets (for 9-10 year olds), and Cal Ripken (for 11-12 year olds) are the available age brackets. Players, coaches, and fans can enjoy the features of the recently renovated Mandan Youth Baseball Fields, which include a new press box and permanent bleachers on Diamond 9, new dugouts, two new batting cages, and a brand new scoreboard for Diamond 9.