Fifteen of the top high school baseball players from Cedar Rapids and Marion have been selected to play in the Japan-Metro All-Star Classic on Thursday, Aug. 13 at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

The pre-game ceremony starts at 7 p.m., with the game following shortly after.

All tickets cost $5 at the gate. Children 5-&-under will be admitted for free if accompanied by an adult.

All 15 of the Metro all-stars enjoyed banner years this season. All of them are graduated seniors who will be heading off to college in a few weeks, including 13 who hope to play baseball in college.

This was another good year for high school baseball in the Metro area with Jefferson, Prairie, Kennedy and Linn-Mar all ranked in the top 10 at various times. Prairie and Jefferson won Mississippi Valley Conference titles and Kennedy reached the semifinals of the Class 4A state tournament.

The Prairie Hawks will be represented on the Metro All-Star team by Trey Beckman, Drew Yanecek, Corbin Day and Brody Alberts

Sammy Lizarraga, Zach Daniels and Blake Hargens will be wearing their Kennedy uniforms in the Japan-Metro Classic. Lucas Larson and Colton Knox are on the ballclub from Jefferson.

Nolan Arp and Connor Frese of Xavier have been selected for the team. David Kuhn and John Carstensen of Marion are on the club. So are Adam Stolley of Linn-Mar and Landen Akers of Washington.

The team was assembled by the Metro Sports Report, with help from local baseball observers. A half-dozen other players were invited to join the club, but were not available to play due to family vacations or early departures for college.

The 13 players who hope to play baseball in college are Alberts (Kirkwood), Arp (Coe), Beckman (Wabash Valley), Carstensen (Kirkwood), Daniels (Iowa), Day (Central), Frese (Kirkwood), Hargens (Southeastern), Knox (Coe), Larson (John A. Logan), Lizarraga (Wabash Valley), Stolley (Truman State) and Yanecek (Kirkwood).

Akers will be joining the Iowa State football team in January.

The Metro All-Stars will be playing a team of high school players from Yamanashi, Japan, who will be visiting Iowa during the second week of August. The Japanese team will play a series of other games in the Des Moines area and also will participate in cultural and social events during the week.

The Metro Sports Report is the title sponsor of the Japan-Metro Classic. The Cedar Rapids Kernels, the Premier Home Mortgage company and Iowa AAU are also sponsoring the event.