Maryland, Japan Set For Cal Ripken World Series Final

For the first time since the tournament has been played in Maryland, the home state champion will play for the Cal Ripken World Series championship.

The Maryland representatives from Boyds will play the Japan at 2 p.m. Sunday at in .

Maryland's Jake Heskett allowed just one run—a solo homer—in Saturday's 2-1 semifinal win against the Mid-Atlantic representatives from Bronx, NY. He allowed just two hits, struck out four and walked one in six innings.

Brady Pearre had the go-ahead RBI single in the fourth inning.

"It’s hard to put how I feel about today’s game into words," Maryland coach Will Frazier said in a news release. "Playing in a Championship Game like this, when you have Cal Ripken sitting up in the press box watching us play baseball… We really wanted to play baseball the right way, and that’s what these kids have done all week."

The defending champs from Japan defeated Korea, 7-6, to advance to the final against the local champs.

Sunday's world championship game can be viewed on CBS Sports Network and heard on SFMSports.net.

TELL US: Who will win the 2012 Cal Ripken World Series? Leave a comment.

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Editor's Note: An earlier edition of this post included an incorrect international representative. Patch regrets the error.