VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – PLAY BALL!!!! Those immortal words uttered by umpires before every game. Well its time to PLAY WIFFLE BALL!! The seventh annual Wiffle Ball World Series begins Saturday in Valley City with the opening ceremonies beginning at 9am.
The Valley City Hi-Lites will kickoff the opening ceremonies, pun fully intended, with a few routines. The National Anthem will be performed by Abby Brandon and the ceremonies will end with an airplane flyover. First pitch will follow and after first pitch, bagpipers from Heather and Thistle Pipes and Drums will perform.
Honorary Captain Jeromy Brown will throw out the first pitch.
The Wiffle Ball World Series started in 2013 when a group of friends got together with an idea. Chad Bergan, Pat Bresnahan, and Trevor Christiansen wanted to put on a tournament where everyone could come together for a weekend to relive their childhood days playing wiffle ball. When the tournament began, there were eight teams which has now grown to a field of 16 teams. Some notable participants in the tournament this year include former Bison football players Cole Jirik, Colton Heagle, Esley Thornton and Ben LeCompte.
For more information on the tournament visit the official website www.wiffleballws.com or contact Trevor at tchristiansen369@gmail.com or at 701.490.1013.
This year’s tournament will be raising money for the Jeromy Brown Family Fund. The Jeromy Brown Family Fund was created in 2018 with a few cousins (one being Pat Bresnahan, founding member of the WBWS) discussing Jeromy and the influence he has had on them. They decided they wanted to celebrate Jeromy in a way that would give back to individuals with disabilities while honoring Jeromy’s name. Additions to this year’s tournament will be an actual jumbo-tron and a hot tub located down the third base line.
The 2018 WBWS raised over $4,000 for the Todd Heck Memorial Scholarship and hope to raise even more this year through partnership and donations.
The 7th Annual Wiffle Ball World Series will be held, as always, at Shane Roberts Field, 3578 Sheyenne Circle in Valley City.
If you would like to contribute to the Jeromy Brown Family Fund just go to www.wiffleballws.com. There is a donate button on the home page.