×

Series begins 25th year

The Dean Patterson Little World Series will be celebrating its 25th anniversary with a 21-team tournament in Williamsburg.

The annual youth baseball extravaganza that pits the top teams from leagues in Blair County and surrounding areas in a single-elimination format opens at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the Williamsburg field.

This is the first time the tournament will be held outside of Altoona or Bellwood.

“Williamsburg has been great,” tournament director Carl “Pugs” Adams said. “It’s a small-town field, there will be good baseball to watch, and there will be great food. Everyone who’s gone to Williamsburg for tournaments always say they have the best food around.”

Six games will be held Saturday with seven on Sunday beginning at 10 a.m. The quarterfinals will be held with two games Monday and two on Tuesday. After an off day on Wednesday, the two semifinals will be staged on Thursday with the base-running contest and home run derby on Friday. The tournament then wraps up next Saturday with the consolation game at 6 p.m., followed by the championship at 8 p.m.

Nine different leagues will be represented — Altoona Area, Altoona Independent, East End and Logan Township of the Altoona area, Bellwood, Tyrone, Claysburg, host Williamsburg and the Keystone League.

Of those nine leagues, eight league champions are entered in the tournament — Park Home (Altoona Area), Sheetz (Altoona Independent), Penn Med (East End), Peterman’s Florist (Logan Township), Bellwood Eagles (Bellwood), Claysburg Pizza (Claysburg), ZMAC Catering (Williamsburg) and Portage’s Jamestown Rod & Gun (Keystone).

East End’s Dean Patterson, the 2016 DPLWS champion, will also compete in the tournament.

“There are a lot of unknowns this year,” said Adams, who runs the tournament with Brian Friewald, Jamie Morris and Ken Novosel. “The home team champion (ZMAC) playing on its own field is always good, the Portage team looks really good, and I’d never bet against any of the Altoona teams.”

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.39/week.

Subscribe Today