Springford Youth Athletic League Hosts Cal Ripken Tournament Opening Ceremony

The Springford Youth Athletic League was thrilled to be the host of the 10-and-under age group Cal Ripken State Tournament as opening ceremonies kicked off the big event Friday night.

"It is a privilege to be hosting the 2011 regional tournament for the 10-year olds for Cal Ripken," said SFYAL secretary Bryan Walbridge. "It is a lot of work, and we have a lot of dedicated parents that are stepping up and volunteering. And not just parents of kids playing; we’ve got parents from kids from other age groups that are coming in to help so that the parents of the kids who are playing get a chance to watch the games.”

The opening ceremony held Friday night started off with a skills and drills competition where teammates competed in three different competitions: a home run derby, a round the bases race and a round the horn competition.

The home run derby consisted of players from each team scoring as many points at they could. They received one point for hitting the ball into the infield, two points for hitting it into the outfield, five points for hitting the fence while the ball was in the air, and ten points for a home run. The team with the most points wins.

The round the bases race consisted of 3 players from each team. Each player runs around the bases and tags the next player’s hand at home base. All three players are timed, and the team with the fastest time wins.

The round the horn event consisted of 9 players at every position on the field, and they had to throw the ball to each other in a specific order. This event is also timed, and if the ball was overthrown, the player has to retrieve the ball and go back to their position before throwing it to the next player. The fastest time in this event also wins.

Ten teams from Pennsylvania, New Jersery, New York, Maryland and Delaware are competing in the regional tournament..

“So far it’s been great here," said Piedmont assistant coach Chris Lougheed. "We won the speed tournament and we are excited for tomorrow. We think our kids are going to do really well."

Despite the downpour they encountered in the middle of the home run derby, the teams and coaches were still excited for the weekend to come. 

"We are feeling loose and have been playing good," Ridley head coach Tim Phillips said. "The complex here is beautiful and hopefully we will have a good weekend. We've been playing great ever since the semifinals and the states, and we are having fun and ready to go."

Patch will have updates on the scores throughout the weekend.