The 2nd Annual “The Blade Memorial Softball Tournament” met and exceeded all expectations. The softball community was out in force to remember the man and to enthusiastically show support and love for Amy. And oh was a time it was. Scotty Kessler and Club Bene’s were out there winning softball games for heaven’s sake! The Blade Memorial trophy went to Take The Split…the second straight year winning for that group….the best this town has to offer. My guy Gratzi and his team just consistently play well and consistently win..a team with pretty historic record of excellence in KTown. Third place went to The Dons RFR and second place went to the talk of the tournament…Lee Plumbing. I think the collection of lifers that were there watching the tournament were surprised and impressed by a relatively young team that plays with some swagger. At the end of the day, a battle-tested group of veteran players bested an up-and-comer but notice was served…Lee Plumbing may have something here.
The bags tournament was some serious quality competition. No one in the tournament was a lay-up…every team could shoot. Not even Mother Nature slowed down this high-end Bags competition. My wife and middle daughter Katelyn showed out admirably…winning the first two and then taking a couple of closely contested Ls. And Wood_Don and Don_Weeze also had a solid showing. The team that won it, Joe Livingston and Nick Schroeder, came from the losers bracket to win 2 in convincing form and take the coveted trophy. This Bags Tournament has been an equal part of this weekend from the jump, and the importance of that decision cannot be overstated. For every softball vagabond out along the left-field line enjoying The Ball, there were equal amounts of spectators doing the camp-out party watching The Bags. Well-staffed, well run by the Sheridan Lanes faithful…and with a special shout out to Jon Armour…add in some live entertainment from Matt Meyer and the fantastic job done by The Basement Benchwarmers…and what you got is a full-blown must-attend event.
The weekend saw a fantastic amount of party-goers converge on The Moose Club to witness Ball and Bags…endure a 45-minute lightning/rain delay…only to have the sun and the fun close out the event in Blade style fashion. Just imagine the last 150 people at The Blade. Imagine the party they have lived. Imagine the laughs…imagine the stories….and now imagine the one person you know damn well would be the life of that final push…Steve Hess. That is what this is all about. That is why this sells itself. This is The Blade’s self-fulfilling prophecy. This is how he lived, this is what he loved.
Kudos to Swa and Griff… it was a fantastic party. It was the celebration you intended it to be. Thanks and love to all of the helping hands. Nothing of this magnitude happens without a Village….a Village of Blade lovin’ Idiots who understand what is important. Well done…you didn’t host a party…you just partied and competed and then partied some more in Blade’s honor, and people are always gonna want to be a part of that. The success of this event is yours…all of yours.
