Harrisburg RBI wins Senior Baseball Division championship at the 2013 Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) World Series

Harrisburg RBI has won the Senior Baseball Division Championship at the 2013 Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) World Series, the first-ever RBI World Series championship for a Harrisburg team. Harrisburg defeated Tampa RBI by the score of 4-3 in a hotly-contested seven-inning game today at Target Field, home of the Minnesota Twins and 85^th MLB All-Star Game in July 2014. Harrisburg RBI finished the tournament with a 5-0-1 record, including a 7-1 victory over Boys & Girls Club of Venice RBI in the semifinal round. The Senior Baseball Division Championship Game will air on MLB Network and stream on MLB.com on Saturday, August 10^th at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Harrisburg center fielder Reid Demyan was named the Most Valuable Player of the Senior Baseball Division Championship Game after driving in a game-high two RBIs, including Harrisburg's first run in the second inning and the game-tying run in the bottom of the sixth. He finished the tournament with a .467 batting average, 1.022 OPS, five RBIs and three stolen bases.

The RBI World Series, which was hosted by the Minnesota Twins for the third consecutive year, is the international baseball and softball tournament of the RBI program, a Major League Baseball youth initiative designed to provide young people from underserved and diverse communities with the opportunity to play baseball and softball, encourage academic success, and teach the value of teamwork and other important life lessons.

Fifteen alumni from the RBI program were selected in the 2013 MLB Player Draft, including New York Mets first round pick Dominic Smith (11^th overall) and Philadelphia Phillies first round pick J.P. Crawford (16^th overall), who are both alumni of the Boys & Girls Club of Venice RBI program and the MLB Urban Youth Academy in Compton. Additional RBI alumni drafted in 2013 were Kevin Franklin (Venice BGC/UYA, 2^nd round, CIN); Matt McPhearson (DC RBI, 4^th round, ARZ); Cory Simpson (Houston RBI, 6^th round, SEA); Tyler Mahle (Angels RBI, 7^th round, CIN); Willie Allen (Boston Red Sox RBI, 16^th round, WAS); Fabian Roman (Jersey City RBI, 16^th round, CIN); John Slater (Detroit Arsenal RBI, 31^st round, ATL); Corey Ray (Chicago White Sox RBI, 33^rd round, SEA); Cory Jordan (Houston RBI, 35^th round, TB); Marshawn Taylor (Chicago White Sox RBI, 35^th round, SEA); Juan Avena (Venice BGC/UYA, 37^th round, NYM); Ro Coleman (Chicago White Sox RBI, 40^th round, CWS); and Sal Mendez (Jersey City RBI, 40^th round, TEX). Eight of these RBI alumni (Avena, Coleman, Crawford, Mendez, Ray, Roman, Simpson and Smith) have participated in the RBI World Series.

RBI alumni on MLB rosters during the 2013 regular season include Michael Bourn (Cleveland Indians), Carl Crawford (Los Angeles Dodgers), Coco Crisp (Oakland Athletics), Yovani Gallardo (Milwaukee Brewers), James Loney (Tampa Bay Rays), Manny Machado (Baltimore Orioles), James McDonald (Pittsburgh Pirates), Anthony Rendon (Washington Nationals), CC Sabathia (New York Yankees), Andrelton Simmons (Atlanta Braves), Tyler Skaggs (Arizona Diamondbacks), Justin Upton (Atlanta Braves) and Chris Young (Oakland Athletics), among others. Dominic Smith (BGC of Venice RBI - '09/'10), J.P. Crawford (BGC of Venice RBI - '09), Carl Crawford (Houston RBI - '97), James Loney (Houston RBI - '99) and James McDonald (LA RBI - '02) have each played in a RBI World Series.

The RBI program, which is in its 25^th year of operation, is administered by Major League Baseball and is designed to give young people from underserved and diverse communities the opportunity to play baseball and softball, encourage academic achievement and success, and teach the value of teamwork and other important life lessons. RBI currently serves more than 220,000 young men and women in over 300 programs established in approximately 200 cities worldwide. MLB and its Clubs have designated more than $30 million worth of resources to the RBI program, and all 30 Clubs support RBI leagues. For more information about the RBI program and the 2013 RBI World Series, please visit MLB.com/RBI.