10-Year-Old Cal Ripken World Series Wrap-Up From Ocala, FL

Visalia, California wins the 10-year-old Cal Ripken World Series! They defeated South Lexington, Kentucky in the title game on Saturday to become the 2013 World Series champions. Our hometown team, the Ocala Rotary Rampage, fell to South Lexington the night before.

At 10 a.m. Saturday, Visalia and South Lexington met at the Rotary Sportsplex on SE Maricamp Road in Ocala. The two teams battled their way through the Series to finally make it to the championship game. The game was a close one at 5-4, with Visalia scoring the winning run in the top of the 7^th inning (there are normally only 6 innings.)

Visalia barely made it past pool play, going 2-2. Because Visalia was the third seed in the single-elimination tournament, they did not receive a first-round bye. They played and won all three single-elimination games, two of which were against teams that defeated them in pool play.

The Visalia team earned the nickname "The Cardiac Kids" during the regional playoffs for their penchant for late-game comebacks that wracked the nerves of parents and fans. They certainly lived up to that name in the Series final! This is the third consecutive year a team from Visalia has won a Cal Ripken World Series title, and the second overall at the 10-year-old level.

Photo Courtesy of Ocala.com

The Ocala Rotary Rampage was the top team in their division and earned a first round bye. Their first game of the single-elimination tournament was a 16-7 loss to South Lexington. While we were rooting for the Rampage to win the Series, they did become the first host team to win their division in the 10-year-old World Series. Even though Ocala didn't win it all, a Series record isn't bad!

We enjoyed following the games, and we hope league officials will choose Ocala as a host city again in the future. We think the Ocala area is one of the nicest in Florida, and we're always happy to share why we call Ocala our hometown.

We supplied custom trading pins for our hometown team (and many, many others), and even though the Ocala Rotary Rampage weren't the Series champions, we're still very proud of them!

TJM Promotions provides quality promotional products and digital services to clients across the world. No job is too large or small, and we've worked with many diverse clients and organizations the world over. Contact us today at (800) 423-0449 or visit our website, TJMPromotions.com and let us work with you. We hope to see the 10-year-old Cal Ripken World Series in Ocala again soon!