A local competition is giving kids the chance to swing for the fence this spring.

Pitch, Hit and Run, a local subdivision of a Major League Baseball competition, will pit boys and girls against each other to advance through rounds involving core baseball skills. Four age groups – 7-8, 9-10, 11-12, and 13-14 – will be available for kids to enroll in. Age group winners will advance to a sectional level of competition.

The Pitch, Hit and Run Competition will take place May 11 at 12 p.m. in Middleton’s CIBA Sport Center. Participants are asked to bring along a copy of their birth certificate. Parents or guardians must sign a waiver before the competition begins.

Those with questions about the competition can call Luis at 608-203-8836.  

A Middleton woman drowned on a summer rafting trip and her family says it doesn't have to happen.

News 3 Investigates found there are no regulations requiring rafters wear life jackets in Wisconsin.

Lina Vergara, 20, drowned last year on a segment of the Wolf River in northwest Wisconsin rated "difficult" by an international rating system. Her body was discovered by Shawano County Sheriff's deputies 15 hours after she disappeared.

Vergara and her boyfriend rented equipment from Shotgun Eddy's and signed a release recognizing the risks of rafting and recommending they wear life jackets. Vergara wore a lifejacket, but it popped off when she fell in.

Her death is one of 23 boating deaths reported in Wisconsin in 2012. In more than half the cases, the victim wasn't wearing a life jacket. Vergara was one of two rafters who died on Wisconsin's Wolf River.