Team Southeast Defeats Team Harford in Day 3 of Pool Play at 2015 Cal Ripken World Series

From Ripken Baseball:

Kicking off Day 3 of pool play at the 2015 Cal Ripken World Series, Team Harford County (0-2) and Team Southeast (2-0) squared off at Nationals Field in a rematch from the 2014 U.S. Championship Game.

Looking to bounce back from the opening night loss, Team Harford County came out swinging with solo homers from Charlie Hafer and Parker Smith. Southeast’s pitching was able to end the inning and pave the way for a six-run rally to take a 6-2 lead heading into the second inning. After gaining the momentum in their favor, Southeast ran with their lead and never looked back.

Combined efforts from Southeast’s Dominic Fritton and Sam Perez kept Harford County’s bats at bay surrendering only one run for the remainder of the game. Player of the Game Blake McCain and Fritton led the offensive charge for Southeast, racking up three RBIs on two hits each.

In a valiant effort, Harford County’s Tristan Schoendienst tallied five strikeouts as Charlie Hafer received the Harford County Player of the Game for his batting performance.

“Going into this game, I was hoping that we would hit the ball a lot better than we did yesterday,” said Southeast manager Rick Page. “One of our coaches said it best that we’re an eight-cylinder machine that’s running on about four cylinders right now. We still aren’t satisfied with the way that we’ve been hitting, but it has come along better than yesterday.”

Southeast will look to continue their winning streak against Middle Atlantic tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. on Cal, Sr.’s Yard. Harford County has a bye during tomorrow’s pool play and will hope to bounce back on Tuesday, July 28 against Ohio Valley at 12:30 p.m. on Cal, Sr.’s Yard.

Games are played on the innovative fields at The Ripken Experience Aberdeen Powered by Under Armour complex, including the one-of-a-kind Cal, Sr.’s Yard, a two-thirds replica of Camden Yards. Pool play takes place from July 25 – July 29 with games played from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. All tournament games are FREE to the public. Free tickets are available online at www.ripkenbaseball.com/world_series.

New to this year’s tournament, fans around the world will have the opportunity to watch free live streams of the championship games on MLB.com. The championship games on July 31 and August 1 will also include live commentary from MLB veteran and Emmy Award nominated sports broadcaster Bill Ripken. Additionally, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred will be in attendance on Thursday, July 30 for a U.S. semifinals matchup.