87 Teams ready for Kernels Foundation

High school baseball players from 12 states are packing their bags and heading to Eastern Iowa for the 2022 WWBA Kernels Foundation Tournament this weekend (Sept. 16-19).

There are 87 teams from Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio, North Dakota, Indiana, Arkansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and the Elite 2G team from Hawaii, which could be one of the top clubs in the field.

The tournament begins Friday with opening-round games. With such a large contingent of teams, there also will be games at Cedar Rapids Washington, Cedar Rapids Jefferson, Cedar Rapids Xavier and Mount Mercy University.

The quarterfinals are scheduled to start Monday morning with the championship game scheduled for 1:30 p.m. that afternoon. Monday is a school day, so players from eight teams are hoping to contact their schools and let them know they are taking a day off from classes to play in an elite baseball event.

The Kernels Foundation Tournament is part of a busy autumn at Prospect Meadows, with over 300 teams from 14 states expected for a series of Perfect Game events.

The championship game has been held at Veterans Memorial Stadium in some years, but the Kernels are currently playing in the Midwest League playoffs and their field is not available.