YOUTH BASEBALL: Area teams set to begin play in state tourneys (7/16)

By CHUCK JONES cjones@thenewsenterprise.com Ten area Cal Ripken and Babe Ruth All-Star teams will begin play in the Western Kentucky State Tournaments this week. In the Cal Ripken 9-year-old tournament in Brownsville, the Elizabethtown Area Baseball Commission All-Stars, the District 10 runner-up, faces Barren County at 7 p.m. Thursday. If Elizabethtown wins, it will play Okolona at 6 p.m. Friday. Meade County, which won District 10, meets Germantown in the nightcap at 9 p.m. If Meade County wins, it will advance to the winner’s bracket final. In the Cal Ripken 11-year-old tournament in Okolona, Meade County faces Blue Lick at 8 p.m. Thursday. On Friday, Elizabethtown plays Prairie Village at 6 p.m. If both teams win its openers, the teams will meet Saturday at 10:30 a.m. There wasn’t a District 10 11-year-old tournament for 50/70, so Elizabethtown, Meade County and Breckinridge County all advanced to State. In the Cal Ripken 12-year-old tournament for 50/70 in Prairie Village, Elizabethtown will meet the winner of the Prairie Village-Breckinridge County at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Elizabethtown didn’t play in the District 10 tournament since the EABC is hosting the Ohio Valley Regional and teams are allowed to play only one level down from the tournament it is hosting. Meade County, the District 10 runner-up, plays Okolona at 6:30 p.m. Friday, while Clarkson, the District 10 champion, plays Germantown at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. In the Cal Ripken 12-year-old tournament for 46/60 in Henderson, LaRue County and Leitchfield both earned bids since there wasn’t a District 10 tournament. LaRue County faces host Henderson County at 9 p.m. today. In the Babe Ruth 15-year-old tournament in Hawesville, Elizabethtown plays Blue Lick at 7 p.m. Friday in its opener of the eight-team tournament. In the Babe Ruth 14-year-old tournament at Franklin-Simpson High School, Meade County plays Logan County at 9 p.m. Thursday in its opener of the eight-team tournament. In the Babe Ruth 13-year-old tournament in Henderson, Meade County will meet the winner of the Prairie Village-Owensboro Daviess County game at 9 p.m. Friday in the seven-team tournament. Chuck Jones can be reached at 505-1759