VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (WTKR)- Almost anybody who grew up playing baseball dreamed of setting foot on a Major League field, but many never get the chance. Eight young baseball and softball players from Hampton Roads will live that dream this Saturday.
That's how many players from the area advanced to the regional competition of Major League Baseball's Pitch, Hit and Run event. The first round was held in our area on July 23 at Virginia Beach's Arrowhead Elementary School, hosted by Bayside PONY Baseball. What started as a pool of 208 baseball and softball players ages 7-14 saw eight emerge with scores high enough to advance.
"Baseball is very much a team sport and you don't get to play every game," Bayside PONY Commissioner of Baseball Drew Little noted. "This gives them a chance to show what they can do individually and what their work, the time they have put in, has created. It's a payback for all the hard work they've put in on their own."
"They are so excited," added Bayside PONY President Lisa Matthews. "They are pumped, they're fired up and they're making friends and they're getting to build their community and have so much fun and they look forward to it."
The regional competition will be held on Saturday at Nationals Park in Washington, DC. It's a big stage for a big event, one that the four baseball and four softball players making the trip will most certainly take in.
"I'm going to be on a huge field," softball player Sophie Cadwallader said. She's a fifth grader from Virginia Beach. "I'm not going to be on one of those softball fields that we practice on."
"I've dreamed about it a few times now," Dean Callahan, a 12-year old baseball player from Virginia Beach exclaimed. "It's just going to feel really cool just looking in the stands and experiencing the moment."
The competition does not stop after this Saturday. Winners will move onto the national Pitch, Hit and Run competition at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, which is held in October during the World Series. No matter what happens, however, coaches and organizers hope that the players taking part will make sure to seize the moment and enjoy themselves this weekend.
"I hope the one thing that they remember about this experience is the fun and the amazement and awe of it, just being at the stadium," Matthews said.
"Regardless of how they finish, I hope that they remember that they got to be part of this group and that it was special and it really cultivates that love of the game for them for their whole lives, added Little."
