ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals, in conjunction with Major League Baseball, hosted their annual Pitch, Hit and Run event at Busch Stadium on Saturday morning. The one-day event gives boys and girls ages 7-14 the opportunity to advance from local competitions all the way to the National Finals, which are held during MLB All-Star week.

Saturday’s competition featured the top 12 baseball and top 12 softball qualifiers from Missouri and Illinois. The following participants were selected as league champions:

Softball: Maci Long (Marble Hill, Mo.), Sutton Freimuth (Smithton, Ill.), Sierra Zuck (Tuscumbia, Mo.), Rylee Cureton (Marble Hill, Mo.)
Baseball: Andrew Eickhoff (Russellville, Mo.), Carson Bonacker (Eureka, Mo.), Braeden Hays (Sedgewickville, Mo.), Alex Siatos (Godfrey, Ill.)

All 30 ballpark are slated to host their own Pitch, Hit and Run event over the next month. The top three scorers in each division age group after all the MLB events are completed will receive an all-expense paid trip to All-Star Week in Cleveland.