The teams competing in the softball championship of the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) World Series are now set following elimination games today at the Jackie Robinson Training Complex in Vero Beach, Fla. The #1 seeded Atlanta Braves RBI will face defending champions and #2 seeded Astros Foundation RBI tomorrow, Friday, August 13th. The game will stream LIVE on MLB.com, beginning at approximately 9:00 a.m. ET, and will be called by Brett Dolan and former NCAA women’s softball champion Destinee Martinez. Youth baseball sensation and former RBI World Series Champion (2017) Mo’ne Davis will join as a sideline reporter.
Atlanta will look to replicate the efforts of their baseball counterparts, who were crowned Junior Baseball Division Champions of the RBI World Series last week, marking the city’s 14th title – tied for the most with Los Angeles. It is also Atlanta’s 37th appearance overall, the fourth most after Los Angeles (50), Houston (48) and Puerto Rico (40). At least one team from Atlanta has appeared in 23 of the 28 total RBI World Series tournaments.
The two-time defending softball champions from Houston are seeking to claim their third consecutive softball championship while making their 12th consecutive appearance in the RBI World Series. Houston owns the second most appearances in RBI World Series history with 48. Since 1997, the city of Houston has been represented in the tournament every year but once.
The RBI World Series is the international baseball and softball championship tournament of the Major League Baseball RBI program, which is 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. The special event in 2021 will ultimately include participation from nearly 200 young athletes on RBI teams from 14 cities around the United States.
The RBI program, which has served approximately 2 million young people since its inception, is administered by Major League Baseball and designed to give young people from underserved and diverse communities the opportunity to play baseball and softball, while also encouraging academic achievement and success and teaching the value of teamwork and other important life lessons. RBI currently serves youth in over 200 programs in approximately 200 cities worldwide. MLB and its Clubs have designated more than $40 million worth of resources to the RBI program, and all 30 Clubs support RBI leagues. For more information about the RBI World Series, please visit MLB.com/rbiworldseries.