PONY tradition plays on in Washington
The town of Washington, Pa., has a proud football tradition highlighted by the perennial success of Washington High School and Washington & Jefferson College. However, "Little Washington" also possesses a fine baseball tradition.
The Washington Wild Things of the Frontier League continue to draw record crowds at Falconi Field as many western Pennsylvanians are finding the professional baseball scene at the North Strabane Township complex far more appealing and cost-effective than the one in Pittsburgh's North Side.
While the Wild Things and impressive home field are in only their second year of existence, a baseball tradition that started over 50 years ago will continue in Washington next month.
The 2003 PONY League World Series takes place in Washington Park's Lew Hays Field Aug. 9-16.
For the 20th consecutive summer, the best 13- and 14-year-old ball players from around the world will compete for the PONY League championship in Washington. Teams from the United States, the Caribbean and the Asia-Pacific zone now compete for PONY's top honor.
Washington played host to the first 12 PONY League championships from 1952 through 1963. All told, Washington will play host to this prestigious tournament for the 41st time in the 52 years of this event. Washington also played host to the PONY World Series from 1968-1973, 1976, and 1981-1982. The PONY League World Series has taken place every year at Washington since 1984.
Other PONY World Series sites have included San Diego, Calif., (1964); National City, Calif., (1965), 1978); Ralston, Neb., (1966); Springfield, Ill., (1967), (1974-75); Pasadena, Calif., (1977); Davenport, Iowa, (1979-1980); and Kennewick, Wash., (1983).
San Antonio, Texas, won the initial PONY World Series in 1952 while host Washington and Monongahela were the only Pennsylvania-based national champions in 1955 and 1954 respectively. Monterey, Mexico, was the first non-U.S. PONY champion, winning the tourney in 1972.
Seoul, South Korea, is the only team to win three consecutive PONY titles (1988-1990) and the first repeat PONY champion was Campbell-Moreland, Calif., (1978-79). The only other team to win consecutive PONY titles before Seoul's "three-peat" was West Covina, Calif., in 1981-82.
Norwalk, Calif., won last year's PONY World Series and teams from the state of California have won a PONY-most 18 titles. Puerto Rico teams have won five PONY titles while teams from Illinois and Taiwan have won four each. Teams from Texas and Korea (Seoul) have won three times each and states that have had PONY champions twice include Pennsylvania, Florida, Hawaii and North Carolina. Georgia, West Virginia, Indiana, Mexico, Michigan and Massachusetts have all had one-time champions.
PONY is an acronym for Protect Our Nation's Youth. The concept for the name originally came from boys at the local YMCA in Washington and stood for Protect Our Neighborhood Youth. When PONY became an international program in the early 1950s, Neighborhood was switched to Nation's.
PONY Baseball is organized with two-year age brackets. The age brackets are as follows: Shetland League, ages 5 and 6; Pinto League, ages 7 and 8; Mustang League, ages 9 and 10; Bronco League, ages 11 and 12; PONY League, ages 13 and 14; Colt League, ages 15 and 16; and Palomino League, ages 17 and 18.
For PONY Girls Softball, leagues are operated for fast pitch and slow pitch on an "and under" age concept. The following leagues for PONY girls softball are Pinto League age 8 and under; Mustang League, age 10 and under; Bronco League, age 12 and under; Pony League, age 14 and under; Colt League, age 16 and under; and Palomino League, age 18 and under.
Baseball play is governed by the Official Rules of Major League Baseball, and PONY Baseball rules and regulations, which contain those exceptions deemed necessary for a youth baseball program.
The PONY rule book also contains regulations relative to league organization and administration. PONY Girls Softball Rules and Regulations include the rules of play, as well as regulations for softball league organization and administration.
The PONY League World Series is produced for Pony Baseball/Softball by World Series Tournaments, Inc.
For ticket information, call 724-222-9315 or e-mail ponyworldseries.com.
All PONY League World Series games will be broadcast live on WJPA (95.3 FM/1450 AM) radio station of Washington.
