Earlier Time for BLWS Championship Game

The Championship Game of the Big League World Series will be played a little earlier this year.

The Championship Game will be played 6:30pm on Wednesday, July 31, BLWS Tournament Director Jon Humphrey told city council members Monday night.

That game will be broadcast live on ESPN.

“We’ll be under the lights in primetime and we’ll be able to showcase the community, showcase the talent of these boys that play in the World Series on the worldwide stage of ESPN,” Humphrey said. “That’s a big positive I think that the tournament brings.”

Humphrey said the tournament could not succeed without the support of city officials and departments.

“I think we tap just about every service in this city,” Humphrey said. “There’s not a department in your organization that isn’t supportive or helpful and we really do appreciate that.”

Humphrey invited Mayor Larry Bagwell to throw out the first pitch at 7pm Wednesday, July 24. He also invited city council to take part in the special ceremony for the first game as well.

The festivities will officially kick off on July 23 with Fan Fest, Humphrey said.

“It starts with a home run derby and then we’ll have a team walk from the Championship field out to Five Field,” Humphrey said. “We’ll have a concert out on the Five Field.”

Fan Fest entertainment has yet to be announced, but Humphrey hopes it will be announced soon.

Regional tournaments continue to be held around the world to determine who will be traveling to Easley to play in this year’s Series.

The members of the SC District 1 team were announced last month. That team is drawn from schools in Pickens, Anderson and Oconee counties, Humphrey said.

Mexico has an automatic team, but which team will represent Mexico has yet to be determined.

A German team will represent Europe-Africa and Venezuela will represent Latin America.

Three members of the Venezuelan team played in last year’s tournament.

“They’re excited about coming back,” Humphrey said.

Last year’s champions, Puerto Rico, lost to Aruba in the regional semi-final this year. Aruba then fell to Venezuela.

For the first time since Easley began hosting the tournament, the Asia-Pacific region will be represented by China-Taipei.

“It’s their first year to play in the regional tournament,” Humphrey said. “They did a great job and won the regional tournament yesterday.”

The Big League World Series is all-volunteer organization, he said.

“We all get a zero-dollar paycheck,” Humphrey said. “But we do it because we all love being involved in youth sports. The bleachers are in, the bats are in, the uniforms for the players are in, now all we’re waiting on is the players.”

For more information on the series as it approaches, check back with Easley Patch and www.bigleagueworldseries.com