Cal Ripken Little League World Series Is Full Of Surprises

Day 4 of the Cal Ripken World Series continues with a game between Australia and Korea. Author’s photo

This year’s Cal Ripken Little League World Series is full of surprises. A local Harford County team is always invited to join the regional winners in the Aberdeen, MD-based tournament, as are the Maryland State champions. Usually these local teams don’t fare well against the high level of competition. But this year’s representative, the Hickory Hornets, are now 3-0 after the fourth day of competition.

On Monday they got that third win by defeating the Midwest Plains team by a score of 8-2. Colton Knoble, who was also the winner of Friday’s home run competition, drove in a two-run double as part of an explosive first inning in the victory. Garrett McIlhenney also scored three runs in the game and Hunter Wright got the victory.

Harford now guarantees themselves a game in the U.S. Semi-Finals on Thursday.

International newcomer to the event, Puerto Rico, is also now undefeated by beating Canada 13-3.

Another surprise team of the tournament, Australia, did lose for the first time to a dominating Korean squad by a score of 7-1, as Donghyun Chun collected the win, striking out five. Other winners on Monday were Southeast, Pacific Northwest, Maryland State, Japan and Dominican Republic.

Games continue through Saturday and are free to attend. The U.S. and International championships games are on Friday night, with the overall champion crowned before a nationally-televised audience on Saturday night.