Series task force meets this week
MOSES LAKE — The start of 2009 16-18 Babe Ruth World Series baseball tournament at Larson Playfield is less than a week away and the Babe Ruth World Series Task Force will meet Wednesday night for the final time before play begins Saturday.
The 2009 Babe Ruth World Series will bring together some of the best 16- to 18-year-old baseball teams from throughout the country for the eight-day tournament.
Tournament participants will begin arriving in the Columbia Basin Thursday and the task force will meet Wednesday to discuss volunteer opportunities and event scheduling.
Tournament co-Director and World Series Task Force Chairman Randy Boruff said the task force is finalizing tournament preparations.
“We are making sure all of the I’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed,” he said.
With the tournament participants beginning arriving Thursday, housing co-Coordinator Eileen Martinez said a host family meeting is scheduled for tonight at Larson Playfield beginning at 7 p.m.
“We will go over the rules and any questions (parents may have) will be answered there,” she said.
While all incoming tournament participants have been housed, the task force still needs volunteers to help at the tournament, Boruff said.
“If anyone is interested in volunteering, they can call me and we will find a place to put them,” he said.
To volunteer to help at the world series tournament, contact Boruff at 509-750-4610 or Tournament co-Director Kerry Garbe at 509-750-4575.
Tickets for the 2009 Babe Ruth World Series are currently available in Moses Lake at the Columbia Basin Herald office, the Moses Lake Parks and Recreation Department, and the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce.
Tickets are available at The Bookery and the Grant County Journal in Ephrata.
The World Series will begin Saturday at 9:30 a.m. with the opening ceremonies. The first game is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. and the Babe Ruth World Series hosts, the Columbia Basin River Dogs, are scheduled to take the field for the first time Saturday at 8 p.m.
Before the River Dogs opening game, members of the 1998 Babe Ruth World Series championship team will be honored with Moses Lake graduate and former River Dogs player B.J. Garbe throwing out the first pitch.