Players from one of the teams gets ready to enter the field during the parade of teams. (PHOTOS: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).
Hundreds of young baseball players from Orange County and Mexico, supported by families and friends, turned out Thursday evening at Harvard Park for opening ceremonies of the 34th annual Irvine Pony Memorial Day Tournament.
The tournament was the start of the four day event which will be held at ball parks throughout Irvine through Monday.
To see the slide show, click on the first photo:
Irvine Pony President JD Hardin and tournament director Stacie Sloniger welcomed the players and coaches who took part in the parade of teams.
“We have 388 teams this year,” Sloniger said. “I think last year we had 346, so this is a record again, we continue to just build and build. We are using Great Park fields this year and Harvard Park.”
Ball parks in Costa Mesa and Newport Beach will also be used.
“We’re expanding a little bit just to accomodate all of those teams,” Sloniger said. “We have over 800 games and over 4,500 kids participating this year, so we have impressive numbers.”
The flag ceremony was done by Scout Troop 36 in Irvine. Members were Agustus Bick, Aidan Kalina, Micah Sherman, Tim Sparks, Christopher Su and Zachary Su.
The Mexican National Anthem was sung by a young player representing Mexico while the United States National Anthem was performed superbly by AJ Forte, a guitarist who attends Citrus College and has been playing the bass and guitar for six years.
First pitch was thrown by Josue Lopez, who played in the Memorial Day Tournament and was a pitcher for Oakland, Toronto and for a team in the Korean league. Lopez, who was born in Santa Ana, was a champion with the Tomateros de Culiacan and a champion in Caribbean Series.
The catcher was his former teammate Arnold Leon.
Irvine Mayor Larry Agran welcomed the players and their families and praised the efforts of Irvine Pony officials in promoting youth baseball in Orange County.
Fernando Rubio Hernandez, representing the Mexican youth teams, also greeted fans.
All the parking lots at Harvard Park were filled to capacity and concession stand sales were brisk.
For tournament schedules, go to the Irvine Pony website.
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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