After winning the local Major League Baseball Pitch Hit and Run competition this summer, two local athletes advanced to the regional competition, hosted by the Kansas City Royals, and came home with championship medals.
Baze Hogan, a freshman at Great Bend High School, won the 13/14-year-old softball division in Kansas City with a score of 1,140 points, bettering her score in the local competition of 1,000 points. Baze is the daughter of Kristy Blakeslee and Toby Hogan. She also won the regional competition in 2021 in the 9/10 year old division.
Briggs Keiswetter, competing in the 9/10-year-old baseball division, turned in the best performance in his division with a score of 875 points in Kansas City. Keiswetter is a 4th grader at Cornerstone Classical Private School in Salina, and is the son of Dustin and Becky Keiswetter.
From the 30 Major League Baseball teams plus Puerto Rico, only four regionals winners were invited to participate in the World Series competition. Neither Hogan nor Keiswetter’s scores made the cut.
The local MLB Pitch Hit & Run competition is sponsored by the Great Bend Optimist Club and the Great Bend Recreation Commission. Eighty young people showed up to test their baseball and softball skills in the local competition on July 1. The winning scores in each age division were submitted to MLB for consideration in competing in the Kansas City Royals regional competition. Three of the eight local winners had qualifying scores for the competition in Kansas City.
Optimist Club President John Sullivan said “the local Optimist Club is proud to be a part of this event. Every young person has the opportunity to participate, and the winners can be rewarded with a special Major League Baseball experience.”
Great Bend Recreation Commission Sports Director Shane Sandberg added, "It’s amazing to think that 25 percent of the Kansas City Royals Regional winners came from our local competition.”
Watch the Rec Commission activity guides for information on next year’s local competition. It generally takes place in early July. “We’d like to see 175 local competitors next summer,” Sandberg said.