EL1 Reading Fightin Phils

Baseballtown 16-18 Year Old RBI Team Advances to Regional Finals

Published on July 20, 2014 under Eastern League (EL1)
Reading Fightin Phils News Release


With a win on Saturday morning, the Baseballtown RBI 16-18 year old team has advanced to the finals of the 2014 RBI (Renewing Baseball in Inner Cities) Mid-Atlantic Regional at Prince George's Stadium in Bowie, Md. The team will play on Sunday at noon against either Washington, D.C. or Harrisburg.

If the Baseballtown RBI team wins on Sunday, they will advance to the RBI World Series hosted by the Texas Rangers on August 6th through the 17th on various fields throughout Grapevine and Southlake, Tex. The RBI World Series is the international baseball and softball tournament of the RBI program. In order to qualify for the World Series, RBI Leagues from the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, and South America have been competing in eight RBI Regional qualifying tournaments.

Baseballtown's 16-18 year old team has been playing in the RBI League Mid-Atlantic Regional since Thursday, where they have gone undefeated to earn a spot in the Regional Final.

The Baseballtown RBI team is composed of the same kids that played at Gordon Hoodak Stadium at Lauer's Park in its first year of existence. For some of them, the RBI League was their very first time playing baseball. Now, those same kids are just one win away from heading to the RBI World Series.

Baseballtown Charities, a non-profit 501(c)(3) entity, was founded in 2002 in association with the Reading Phillies in order to keep baseball alive in Reading through charitable donations to underprivileged youth who otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity to play baseball. The organization also pays tribute to Reading's rich baseball history.

Since its inception in 2002, the Baseballtown trademark has played a necessary part in the baseball community of Berks County. Under the Baseballtown namesake, FirstEnergy Stadium has played host to the High School All-Star Game and the Olivet's Boy's and Girl's Club Championship. Each year, the organization crowns the King or Queen of Baseballtown to honor the past by recognizing that individual's accomplishments and contributions to baseball/softball.

Perhaps the biggest accomplishment the organization has overtaken was the construction of Gordon Hoodak Stadium at Lauer's Park in 2006. Through contributions exceeding $900,000, the youth ballpark was built in a neighborhood that is quickly returning to its glory days. It sits on the grounds of Lauer's Park Elementary School, named for the former stadium where Babe Ruth and Shoeless Joe Jackson both played. The original housed several professional teams and hosted barnstorming tours from 1907-1941. Reading's own baseball legend, the late "Broadway" Charlie Wagner, former Red Sox pitcher and roommate of Ted Williams, began his career there.

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Eastern League Stories from July 20, 2014


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