New baseball tourney format tested in Hillsboro
Staff writer
A new format for state Babe Ruth/Cal Ripken baseball tournaments was tested over the weekend in Hillsboro.
Instead of separate locations for each age division, the under-10, under-12, and under-16 tournaments were held Friday to Sunday at Hillsboro Sports Complex.
“The purpose of this was to allow families with two or more players at different age levels to compete at one site,” Babe Ruth League commissioner Bob Willis wrote in a release, “and the whole family could see its players without traveling between towns or splitting up to watch their loved ones play.”
Ten teams across the divisions, including teams from Hillsboro and as far as Parsons, competed for spots at the Midwest Plains Regional Tournament today through Sunday in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Parsons punched its ticket in the under-10 tournament with 15-5 and 12-8 victories against Hillsboro in a best-of-three series Friday. The teams were the only ones to compete in that division.
Tampa went undefeated in the under-12 bracket and capped its tournament with a 15-0 rout over Hillsboro in the championship game.
Teams from Columbus and Chase County also played in the under-12 tournament.
In the under-16 bracket, Hillsboro defeated Whitewater twice to claim the title. Hillsboro won the first game 7-6 Friday before meeting Whitewater again in Sunday’s championship.
Hillsboro won 9-7 to advance to the regional.