The winners of the annual Pitch Hit and Run Competition, an official program of Major League Baseball and sponsored by Aquafina have been determined. They are:

The winners move on to the next round of competition, to be held Sunday, June 2, at Wick Field in Milwaukee. The finals will be held at the All-Star Game at Citi Field in New York on July 16.

The Kenosha Merchants added a quality opponent on the road to their 2013 schedule.

The Merchants will travel to Wing Park in Elgin, Ill., for a 7:30 p.m. contest against Elgin Post 57. The two teams split a pair of games in 2012, Kenosha winning 5-4 in the Wheaton (Ill.) Summer Classic and Elgin taking the rematch 10-4 in the Leo Brunner Invitational in Moline, Ill.

"It's a chance to play a quality opponent on the road early in the season," said Manager Peter DiGaudio. "The game we originally had scheduled (at Burlington) was cancelled, and due to the (WIAA post-season) tournament, this may be the first time we have our entire team together against a quality opponent.

"It should be a good test for us."

The Kenosha Legion Post 21 Merchants announced their 2013 schedule, featuring four in-season tournaments and a date against Plover Post 543, a perennial state power that was ranked No. 1 in the state among Class AAA teams most of the 2012 season.

The Merchants, who finished 19-21 overall and 6-4 in Lakes Area Legion League play, will be playing all of their home games at the newly reconstructed Augie Schmidt Field at Carthage College this year and will host the Class AAA Region 7 State Qualifying Tournament July 24-28 for the first time since 2009.

Kenosha opens at home against border rival Waukegan, Ill., Post 281 on June 7 at 7:30 p.m. The opening weekend continues with an 11 a.m. game June 8 against Sheboygan Post 83 and the LALL opener against Janesville Post 205 at 4 p.m., also on June 8 as part of a three-team round robin. The Merchants took two of three from Janesville last year, both walk-off wins including one in an elimination game in the Region 7 tournament at Genoa City. The following day, defending state champion Madison and regional power Norwood, Ill., come in for another three-team, with the Merchants playing Madison at 12 p.m. and Norwood at 5 p.m.

Another highlight of the Merchants’ season will be the regular season finale, a visit from defending Illinois state runner-up and Great Lakes Regional qualifier Northbrook for a 1 p.m. doubleheader.

The Merchants will play in four in-season tournaments, starting with the Genoa City Father’s Day Invitational June 14-16. It will be Kenosha’s first appearance in the tournament hosted by their primary rival and replaces the Wheaton Post 76 Summer Classic, which reduced the size of the tournament field by half and the Merchants didn’t make the field, which was drawn from entries submitted.

Kenosha will also play in the annual Fred Gordon 4^th of July Invitational in Waukegan, Ill., July 5-7 before making its annual trip to the Jim Hanus Gopher Classic in Minnesota July 12-14. The Merchants’ pool assignment is in Elko. Also, the Merchants will host the annual Andy Smith Memorial Classic June 21-23 at Nash Park. Among the teams participating will be two-time defending champion Highland, Ind., Post 180.

The Kenosha Legion Post 21 Merchants received their pool assignment for the 2013 Jim Hanus Gopher Classic in Minnesota. The Merchants will be in the Lakeville North pool at Elko, Minn., with Fredrickson Field and Panther Field at Lakeville North High School as the sites for pool play.

Other teams in the pool besides host Lakeville North are Champlin Park, Minn., Wayzata, Minn.; Owattona, Minn; and the Calgary Redbirds from Alberta, Canada.

The pairings for pool play are as follows:

The classic Abbott and Costello routine. Funny every time you watch it.

1. Radio was invented; Cubs fans got to hear their team lose.
2. TV was invented; Cubs fans got to see their team lose.
3. Baseball added 14 teams; Cubs fans get to see and hear their team lose to more clubs.
4. George Burns celebrated his 10th, 20th, 30th, 40th, 50th, 60th, 70th, 80th, 90th and 100th birthdays.
5. Haley's comet passed Earth twice.
6. Harry Caray was born....and died. Incredible, but true.
7. The NBA, NHL and NFL were formed, and Chicago teams won championships in each league.
8. Man landed on the moon, as have several home runs given up by Cubs pitchers.
9. Seventeen U.S. presidents were elected.
10. There were 11 amendments added to the Constitution.
11. Prohibition was created and repealed.
12. The Titanic was built, set sail, sank, was discovered and became the subject of major motion pictures, the latest giving Cubs fans hope that something that finishes on the bottom can come out on top.
13. Wrigley Field was built and becomes the oldest park in the National League.
14. Flag poles were erected on Wrigley Field roof to hold all of the team's future World Series pennants. Those flag poles have since rusted and been taken down.
15. A combination of 40 Summer and Winter Olympics have been held.
16. Thirteen baseball players have won the Triple Crown; several thanked Cubs pitchers.
17. Bell-bottoms came in style, went out of style and came back instyle; disco did the same.
18. The Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks and Florida Marlins have all won the World Series. The Diamondbacks and Marlins didn't even exist as franchises until the 1990s.
19. The Cubs played 14,153 regular-season games; they lost the majority of them.
20. Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Oklahoma and New Mexico were admitted to the Union.

The Kenosha Merchants roster for 2013 is as follows:

• Colton Lee
• Kevin Tibor
• Cameron Smith
• Luke Sinclair
• Zach Wade
• Manny Santana
• Tyler Salmons
• Kyle Jones
• Garrett Arnold
• Kyle Kluver
• Kyle Kutzler
• Brian Dickow
• Drew Luscomb
• Iver Iversen
• Anthony Klein
• Jake Costabile
• Kyle Huss