Elizabethtown Sports Park Officially Kicks Off Ripken Experience Tournament Season

On Friday the Elizabethtown Sports Park kicked off the youth baseball tournament season with Baseball Hall Of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr. Ripken was at the park to celebrate the start of The Ripken Experience Elizabethtown that will help youth baseball players experience what it is like to play at the major league level .
“So we wanted to create, you know, a tournament experience that would make everyone feel like Big League. It is really important for us to have really good quality fields to really do a lot of the same things as the big leaguers do. The concept was to bring those types of experiences to more kids so they can really enjoy the game of baseball better. So that’s really what the Ripken Baseball Experience is. I mean, you have a chance to have your own walk-up music, all the amenities that are there. We want to create that experience for all of you,” said Ripken Baseball Founder Cal Ripken, Jr. Ripken shared why the Elizabethtown Sports Park was chosen to become part of The Ripken Experience. “We couldn’t be happier and more proud. This complex is a beautiful complex. In order for us to come out, branch out and grow across the country, the main thing is to have a big league caliber type complex, and this definitely qualifies as a big league quality one.”
Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory shared his thoughts on seeing this project become a reality. “Another great day at the Etown Sports Park. You know, we announced this collaboration with Ripken Experience last summer, which was our ten year anniversary at the sports park. So we’re really proud of what we’ve done out here and the success that we’ve had out here. But you never rest on your laurels. And you always look for ways to improve. We’re really excited to partner with Ripken Experience. And we think this is just going to be another improvement for not only our sports park, but our community, and continue to grow and get better.”
The tournament continued through the weekend with 30 teams, 54 games and more than 1500 visitors to the city. Twenty additional baseball tournaments will be held at the complex through the fall, welcoming in over 1000 teams this year.