Cal Ripken Collegiate League Playoffs
Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
The Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League recently wrapped up their regular season. The Bethesda Big Train is the regular season champions with a 31-9 record. The local Baltimore Redbirds finished second with a 25-15 record. The top two seeds receive byes in the first round, which will pit the #3 vs #6 seeds and #4 vs #5 seeds in win-or-go-home single-elimination games hosted by the higher seeds tonight, Monday, July 28th.
The Rockville Express will host another local team, Glen Burnie’s Youse’s Orioles at Knights Field at Montgomery College-Rockville. The Gaithersburg Giants and Alexandria Aces will square off at Criswell Automotive Field at Kelley Field in Gaithersburg. The two fields are within a few miles of each other so a dedicated baseball fan may be able to make it to both for parts of each game.
The winners will play the #1 and #2 seeds on Tuesday, July 29th in a four-team double-elimination tournament. On Wednesday, Tuesday’s winners will face each other while Tuesday’s losers play each other. On Thursday July 31 the losers bracket play to see who gets that second loss and goes home.
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On Friday, August 1st, the winner of the winner’s bracket will face the winner of the loser’s bracket for the League Championship. If the loser’s bracket winner wins Friday’s game, it will force a decisive second Championship Game on Saturday, August 2nd. Both potential games will be played at the home field of the higher seed.
The Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League began in 2005 and the name honors both Cal Senior and Junior. The wood bat league is part of the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball, the same sanctioning body as the Cape Cod and New England Collegiate Baseball Leagues. Players come from colleges and universities across the country. The Baltimore area is also the home of the Baltimore Dodgers, while the rest of the teams are based out of the Washington, DC area.