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The American Fastpitch Association’s World Series tournament wrapped up its opening ceremonies at Ceraland on Monday with teams coming in from all over the Midwest and as far away as Louisiana to compete for the AFA world crown.

Festivities officially began Monday evening with a parade in which teams dressed in a theatrical manner with loud, colorful T-shirts (and in some cases wildly colored hair) with painted faces while brandishing team banners as they walked down the right-field line and onto the baseball diamond amid a large crowd of spectators.

The parade, which was followed by a period of gift exchanges between teams, ushered in the beginning of the tournament, which starts today and will feature 40 teams in four age groups. The event continues through Friday.

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