Most high school athletes don't take up their sports when they reach
ninth grade. Instead, they gain skills and experience while they're in
lower grades by participating in recreational and club sports leagues.

In Wake County, hundreds of middle school-age athletes gain experience
in baseball through the Wake County Club Baseball League.

League play is open to students in grades 6-8 who attend participating middle schools in Wake County.

See photos from the Durham Bulls win over the Scranton/Wilkes Barr Yankees in the first game of the Governor's Cup Championship.

See photos from the last regular season home game at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

West Raleigh is one victory from a second consecutive Cal Ripken World Series 10-and-under championship.

The West Raleigh Baseball Association 10U All-Star Team rolled to a 10-0 victory over Pacific Northwest champion West Linn (Ore.) in the Cal Ripken 10U World Series at Lamar, Colo., on Thursday night.

The winners' bracket semifinals victory sends West Raleigh, the
Southeast Regional champion, to Saturday's national championship game,
which will start at approximately 1 p.m. Eastern time.

The West Raleigh Baseball Association's 10-and-under all-star team is off to a winning start at the Cal Ripken World Series in Lamar, Colo., posting three consecutive victories.

Late Monday, West Raleigh, sparked by a three-run first inning, defeated Danbury (Conn.) 4-2.

West Raleigh defeated Benton (Ark.) 15-2 on Saturday, then won 3-0 over Minnesota on Sunday.

The Bull City Braves won all three of their games in winning the Durham
All-City League Tournament for players age 13-15 played Saturday at
Hillside Park in Durham.

In the title game, the Braves defeated the Yankees 14-0. (Complete scores are below.)

The tournament was the finale of a season that nearly did not begin because of city budget cuts.

Pat Nobles believes it because she experienced it.

"It is amazing what several neighborhoods can do when they work
together," she writes in an e-mail message announcing Saturday's
season-ending tournament for a Durham youth baseball league that almost
didn't have a beginning this year.

West Raleigh is at it again.

The West Raleigh 10U Cal Ripken All-Star team is heading to the Cal Ripken World Series this month, hoping to match last year's 10U team, which won the World Series played in Abbeyville, La.

This year's West Raleigh Baseball Association 10U team is headed for Lamar, Colo., near Denver, where the 10-team, double-elimination championship event will be played Aug. 13-23.

See a collection of the best photos from around the world.

Results from Monday's championship games at the Southern Johnston Baseball Invitational tournaments at Smithfield Community Park. 

Coach-Pitch League: Garner 11, Wendell Blue 5

Midget League: Wendell Blue 11, West Raleigh (white) 10

Little League: Rocky Mount National 7, West Raleigh (red) 3

Junior League: Wendell 15, Johnston County North 4

We'll have a round up on the tournament in next week's print editions of The Herald of Johnston County and the Garner-Clayton Record.