CEDAR
RAPIDS, IOWA – The 11th annual WWBA Kernels Foundation
Championship will take place Sept. 21-24 at 13 area fields in Eastern
Iowa. Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium, home of the
Cedar Rapids Kernels of the Midwest League, will serve as the hub of
the event.
Forty-four
teams will participate in this year's tournament. Teams from 11
different stats will be represented including Illinois, Indiana,
Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey,
South Dakota and Wisconsin. Two teams from Ontario, Canada will also
take part of the Kernels Foundation Championship.
One
of those teams, the Reds Midwest Scout Team, won last year's
championship and also won the event in 2009. Other recent winners
that will be in attendance include the St. Louis Pirates (2008) and
the Racine, Wisconsin-based Hitters Baseball (2007) team.
As
part of the tournament there will be a Fastest Man Contest and Home
Run Challenge, both of which will be conducted at Perfect Game Field
on Saturday night. The tournament's semifinals and championship
games will also be played at PG Field on Monday.
Two
2012 Perfect Game All-Americans will be participating in the
tournament.
Classic
MVP Ryan Boldt of Red Wing, Minn. will be playing with the Reds
Midwest Scout Team as he did a year ago, while first baseman and left
handed pitcher A.J. Puk of Cedar Rapids, Iowa will play for the
Perfect Game sponsored Iowa Select Black team.
Boldt,
who recently was a member of USA Baseball's 18u National Team that
claimed the Gold Medal at the XXV IBAF Baseball World Championship in
Seoul, Korea, won last year's Fastest Man Contest with a timed speed
of 6.50 seconds in the 60-yard dash.
His
Reds Midwest Scout Team teammate Nathan Mikolas was named last year's Most Valuable Player, and is now a member of the New York Yankees
after he was selected in the third round of the 2012 draft.
2011
tournament Most Valuable Pitcher Logan Shore is expected to
participate in this year's tournament once again as a member of the
Minnesota Blizzard Blue.
The
winner of this year's Kernels Foundation Championship will receive a
paid invitation to participate in the 2012 WWBA
World Championship which will be played October 25-29 at the Roger
Dean Complex in Jupiter, Florida. Last year, the Reds Midwest Scout Team advanced to the semifinals of the WWBA World Championship.
For
more information please visit the 2012 WWBA Kernels Foundation Championship event page.