By The Informer Staff

 Derby High School baseball players Garrett Rankin and Travis Young helped their 16-and-under Sluggers baseball team win the 2012 NBC 17-and-under World Series this past month in Topeka. 

Rankin picked up the win on the pitchers mound in the title game as the Sluggers coasted to a 13-5 victory over the Texas Bombers. The Sluggers went undefeated in the tournament with a 5-0 record.

The Derby duo helped the Sluggers, coached by Matt Baty, to a 36-5 record this summer, which also included tournament championships in the 18-and-under USSSA Wood Bat Classic in Hutchinson, and the 18-and-under Buck O’Neil Classic in Kansas City, Mo. The Sluggers also reached the title game of the 18-and-under Past Time Showcase at Oklahoma State University.

Both players are incoming juniors at DHS and were all-league second-team selections in the AVCTL Division I this past season for the Panthers.