This summer, for the first time in the history of the Rapid City Post 22 program, a team will compete in the National Baseball Congress World Series.

The Post 22 Expos will travel to Topeka, Kan., and compete in the tournament, beginning on Friday. The NBC was established in 1935 by Hap Dumont. There are 21 leagues and 17 tournaments that are affiliated with the NBC.

The Expos will be competing in the 18-and-under NBC aluminum bat tournament.

"The competition we will be facing is going to be tough," said Expos head coach Lee Shepherd. "It is going to be a big challenge for our group. It's an 18-and-under tournament and we have a lot of young ball players, but the boys are definitely looking forward to it."

The Expos top pitcher and one of their top hitters, Asau Rodriguez, said the team is truly excited to test itself against some great competition at the World Series.

"We're pretty pumped to go down there because we're going to face some pretty hard teams," said Rodriguez. "We kind of want to see what we'll be going against when we get older."

The tournament in Topeka will feature 11 teams from across the Midwest and each team is guaranteed at least four games. The Expos, a newly formed team this summer, will enter the tourney with a record of 24-26.

"I think it will be a successful tournament if we can go down there and just compete," said Shepherd. "If we play as hard as we can and play well that is all I can ask out of these kids. If we can play with those big boys, that is just a plus for us."

Rodriguez leads the team with six wins on the mound and is second on the team in hitting with a .426 batting average. Alex Ferdinand leads the Expos, hitting at a .439 clip, but is injured and won't make the trip.

However, all eight regular starters are hitting over .300, and as a team they are hitting .330, including solid production from John Jarding (.378), Michael Kelly (.372), Brandon Petersen (.336) and Casey Chilstrom (.333).

"Our hitting is our strength," said Shepherd. "We've out hit about 80 percent of the teams we've played this year, we may not win them all, but we can definitely swing the bats."

The Expos are a tight-knit group with only 11 players on the roster for the trip, which means they will all need to contribute, especially in the pitching department.

"We're a really close team," Rodriguez said. "We're going to have fun no matter what. The great thing about this team is we can all pitch, and if one guy struggles the next guy is ready to step up."

The Expos will leave Friday for Topeka and begin pool play on Saturday.