2016 Players Memorial Tournament
Thursday, June 16 - Best Friend Park

Thanks to all of the players that came out and played in the Memorial Tournament. The Gwinnett Senior Softball Board appreciates everyone’s support of the tournament honoring league players and spouses that have passed away.

The tournament started at 6:30 p.m. with Bob Morrison, League President, welcoming everyone. Bert McDade gave the opening prayer. Bob read the names of the players and spouses who have passed away. Ben Wiechman, Vice President, recognized the players/spouses present with a gift card. Bert McDade read the Softball Player prayer.

We had a special guest this year - Joseph Pierro! Joseph is the son of Mike Pierro who plays in the American League. He is an autistic 10 year old that does not have a lot of communication skills, but he has a great memory and loves to sing. To get teams ready to play, Joseph sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" accompanied by his father on guitar.

Play started at 7:00 p.m. and finished up at 10:45 p.m. Everyone got to play at least 2 games (National league) and 3 games (American league). The weather was beautiful - a little hot but the wind was blowing. And we had family and friends out cheering for their favorite players.

Positive feedback from players about the tournament: One pitch format with a time limit kept the games moving (we got all games in - only ran 15 minutes late in starting the last game); Everyone had a great time; Spirit and enthusiam of tournament was better because it was only league players; Turnout from players and family/friends was more than expected; Liked having the tournament during the week - another nice day at the park; and Consider this format and week night for future Memorial Tournaments.

THANKS to the following individuals who helped make the tournament a success this year! If I missed anyone that helped out, I apologize up front for not remembering. Just let me know so I can add you to the list to be recognized.

SPECIAL THANKS to Ron Petre and Eurskine Lyons!! Ron and Eurskine set the teams and made up the schedules.

• Ed Brown Jr., David Birge and Tony Taylor did a great job umpiring the games.
• Kathy Walker for taking pictures.
• Nate Henry for bringing ice and water.
• Craig Pippin and Ed McVeigh for staying to the end and helping Ron lock the fields.
• Wayne Griffin for conducting a raffle for a new Combat. Monica McIntrye was the lucky winner!

THANKS AGAIN TO EVERYONE!!

One Player's Perspective on the Tournament and Highlight of the Night!

"Well, it was a really swell night for our team, and we couldn’t have had a more apropos finish. We got run-ruled after four innings in the first game 17-1. We sat out for a two-game span and then in our second game we also played four innings because of the time limit and lost by one.

Then a beautiful thing happened. We were losing by eight runs in the third game after four innings and Ed Brown called the flip-flop rule, so we got to bat in the top of the fifth after also batting in the bottom of the fourth. Now, keep in mind that no one had been hitting well all night and the best we could do was several easy fly balls and many three-hoppers to the shortstop. We played awful defense and made base-running errors. I thought I had seen it all. But wait!

Let me take you to the top of the fifth and final inning. One out, Moe on first, Larry on second. Curly is batting and hits a liner over the infield for a hit. Larry takes off and picks ‘em up and lays ‘em down with all the grace of a wounded rhino and rounds third, changes his mind and retreats to third base. Moe, no speedster himself but with more horsepower than Larry, stops between second and third when he sees Larry make a U-turn. Meanwhile, Curly rounds first with blinders on and his head down and just keeps running.

What happened next was one of those times when you just wish someone had a camera. So everyone left at the park starts screaming. Our team yelling at the base runners and the defense shouting all manner of things about where to throw the ball and who to tag first. I’m certain the cacophony could have been heard all the way to Decatur.

There was Curly, about two steps shy of second looking like a deer in the headlights, with Moe jockeying back and forth in the space five to ten feet beyond second waiting for someone to vacate a base so he could have a safe landing somewhere. About this time, the ball is in the hands of an infielder who is watching all of this movement, trying to absorb all the barking of his teammates and moving toward second base. So naturally, what does Curly do? He decides to try to get back to first, totally confusing and at the same time amusing all participants.

Okay, I’m thinking, they’ll tag Curly out and we’ll still have runners on second and third. But noooo! When Larry sees all this going on, he decides to take advantage of his camo shirt, thinking that he’ll be invisible and no one will see him, and he takes off for the plate. Well, in spite of all the clamor, the fielder somehow drags his attention away from Curly and Moe and spots Larry moving toward home like an ice breaker at the polar ice cap. He whips the ball to the catcher and Larry is out by the distance from you to me right now. Two outs!

Then Moe makes a break for third but changes his mind and heads back to second. Curly must’ve decided he’d rather get home to see the end of the Warriors/Cavs game and he abandons thoughts of a safe haven at first and decides to go meet up with Moe and share second base. So there you have it, twenty players using the full power of their vocal cords, every one of them with a different command, arms flailing, jumping up and down, adrenaline oozing everywhere. Catcher to second, tag is made. Ed Brown screams, “We’ve got the out. Ball game!”

After a split second of the sensation of “Did that really just happen?” it sunk in, and everyone – and I mean everyone – broke out in side-splitting laughter. We had all just witnessed something unique, something that most likely has never occurred north of six-year-old tee ball. Only it’s a whole lot funnier when it’s acted out by big old grown-ups.

So if you ask me if the one-pitch tourney was a success, I will give it two thumbs up and tell you that it was truly memorable and you can’t get this kind of entertainment anywhere else.

Special shout-out to Mike Pierro and son Joseph, who did a fabulous job singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” and touching our hearts and putting smiles on our faces.

Put all this together with seeing the family members return to the setting that their dears ones loved so much, and you realize that what we’ve got going on here is very special."

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