City youth now have a chance to show-off their baseball and softball skills the afternoon of Saturday, May 4 at the William Allen High School softball field. The City of Allentown Department of Parks & Recreation’s free Major League Baseball® Pitch Hit & Run™ competition and Major League Baseball® Jr. Home Run Derby™ were postponed from Saturday, April 13 due to wet grounds.
Pitch Hit & Run™ is the official skills competition of Major League Baseball® and offers boys and girls an opportunity to test their core baseball/softball skills. This national initiative gives youth, ages 7-14, the chance to demonstrate their pitching, hitting and running abilities. Competitors accumulate a total score based on his/her performance. There are two separate divisions of Pitch, Hit & Run; baseball and softball.
Major League Baseball® Pitch Hit & Run™ is intended to encourage youth participation and emphasize the fun element of baseball/softball. Since there is no registration fee, everyone has an opportunity to participate.
Major League Baseball® Pitch Hit & Run™ is a national grassroots program that has four levels of competition -- Local, Sectional, Team Championship and National Finals. Everyone must participate in a local competition before advancing to the higher levels. Champions at the local level advance to a sectional competition. At this level, the Sectional All-Around Champions become eligible to advance to the team championships, which are held during June in all 30 Major League Baseball markets. The culmination occurs at the national finals held annually during All-Star Week.
Major League Baseball® Jr. Home Run Derby™ (Jr.HRD™) provides players across the country an opportunity to participate in an exciting home run hitting contest. Jr.HRD™ is a free national program for boys and girls 14 years of age and under. The contest divides boy and competitors into two age divisions: 12 and under and 14 and under. The program includes three levels of competition, with top performers from the local level advancing to regional level and ultimately, the national finals prior to the Major League Baseball® Home Run Derby® during MLB® All-Star Week.™
Participants must bring a copy of their birth certificate and have their parent or guardian fill out a registration/waiver form prior to the start of each of the two competitions. Online registration is highly encouraged for all participants. https://pitchhitrun.leagueapps.com/events/963625
Rain date for the competitions is Sunday, May 5.
For more information, contact Recreation Program Specialist Chris Hendricks in the Allentown Department of Parks & Recreation at 610-437-7767 or chris.hendricks@allentownpa.gov.
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