Jul 22, 2015 4 min read

All 19 games for the Pony League World Series will be available for live web streaming on MLB.com.

Bob Gregg, president of World Series Tournaments Inc., made the announcement at a Wednesday news conference at PONY Baseball and Softball International Headquarters in North Franklin Township. He also said the Observer-Reporter agreed to become the presenting sponsor of the world series, joining Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency and Dick’s Sporting Goods as leading sponsors of the event. Finally, Game 5 of the series, a 5:30 p.m. start Saturday, Aug. 8, will be televised by the Pittsburgh CW network.

The Pony League World Series runs Aug. 7-12 at Lew Hays Pony Field in Washington Park.

The web streaming of world series games will be produced by Pikewood Sports, a division of Pikewood Creative and West Virginia Radio Corp., a management, marketing and media firm that operates 32 radio properties throughout West Virginia.

“The partnership with MLB and Pikewood Sports means that HD, multicamera vision of the Pony League World Series will be available around the world,” said Gregg. “We had single-camera, video streaming the last couple years, but this is going to put high-quality, live action all around the world for people to see the world series as it’s going on.”

Gregg said the desire to televise a second game in the series was always there but financial restraints made it difficult to execute.

“That lets people see what we’re doing in the region and still have time to come to future games,” Gregg said of televising an earlier game. “The championship game being on TV is great for Pony Baseball and Softball, Washington County and the world series, but it’s 358 days until they could come to the next Pony League World Series game. With our (current) partnership and support, we’re able to make that happen.”

WJPA broadcasts will provide the audio for the games and Tony Caridi – best known for his broadcast of West Virginia athletics – will provide pregame, between game and postgame pieces for the world series.

Dale Miller, President and CEO of West Virginia Radio Corporation, said he became familiar with the Pony League World Series when he was working with American Legion teams in Morgantown, W.Va.

“I love youth baseball and I’d love to see what was going on there,” said Miller of the Pony World Series. “I know they had streamed it the last couple years and that’s really what our company does, Pikewood Creative. We have our own video production equipment. We don’t need to rent anything. We can do this tournament with five cameras, four fixed and one on a wireless so we can go into the stands and (dugout) to talk to the kids. It will be free. Just go to the MLB site when the games are playing and they will be streaming live. It’s a worldwide product now.”

The increased presence of the Observer-Reporter is natural, considering the newspaper has been involved with Pony baseball since the organization’s founding in 1951.

“We are excited about the progress that has been made and are pleased to step up our support of this cherished community event,” Tom Northrop, Publisher of the Observer-Reporter, said in a release.

Matt Miller, Director of Sales & Marketing for the O-R, said the sponsorship is an investment in the community and the kids in the community.

“We are sponsoring opening night and the skills competition,” Miller said, “but really this is an investment in giving the kids in this community an opportunity to compete against the best baseball players in the world.”

Miller said the increased exposure by the Observer-Reporter was prompted by advancements made in the world series over the past couple years.

“They have taken it to a new level,” Miller said. “They are televising a couple games, they have Dick’s Sporting Goods as a long-term sponsorship and (Washington County Tourism) has stepped in in a big way. We just recognize that this is a great opportunity for us to get involved in a bigger way.”

Five teams – Vienna, Mazatlan, Mayaguez, Taoyuan County and Washington – have spots in Pony World Series. Five more zone teams – Host, East, North, South and West – will determine a qualifier by Aug. 2.