By TYLER KING

Associated Press

SOUTH WILLIAMS-PORT, Pa. — Little League is about to stage its own version of Major League Baseball’s home run derby.

The Little League Home Run Derby championship will take place at Bowman Field, site of the Little League Classic — the MLB game played during the tournament — this afternoon, and will air on ESPN prior to the start of Sunday night’s broadcast of the Cubs-Pirates matchup. T-Mobile is sponsoring the event.

Little League probably couldn’t have picked a better time for a home run derby, which will feature both baseball and softball players.

The MLB version created some serious buzz as Toronto Blue Jays rookie Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson took turns launching baseballs into the Cleveland sky earlier this summer. Casual sports fans were interested and it showed, as viewership was up 5% for the derby from the previous year.

Now Little League is joining in.

The event comes as concern over youth sports participation in the United States remains high, and any boost in excitement helps. The Colorado-based Aspen Institute recently released a survey on youth sports which said that children play organized baseball for a little over three years on average and stop at age 10, which is the low end of Little League.

A lot of that has to do with the costs associated with playing youth sports. The average family spending on youth baseball was $659.96, with the high end at about $14,500, the report said.