The 4th Annual Cancer Charity Softball Tournament

In Memory of Nick Raitt, 1/17/89 – 6/2/11

September 9-10, 2011

Congratulations to all 34 teams that participated in this year’s 4th Annual WACKY Charity Softball Tournament! We survived hail storms, thunder, lightening, a visit from the paramedics (player is fine), an official protest, narrowly escaping having to play “if” games in the 12u & 16u championship games and boatloads of WACKY players, parents, coaches and umpires that made this year the most fun yet! I finally have the link to all the pictures (click here), as well as a fun video I put together (see below).

*to sign in, the username and password are: wackywarriors

2011 Softball Tournament Video

I think the Skills Contest was the favorite part again this year, which is fitting as it was Nicks favorite, too. Here are the amazing winners:

Around the Horn
10u – Revolution – 10.5 seconds
12u – DC Xtreme – 8.3 seconds
14u – Riptide – 7.7 seconds
16u – Crush – 8.2 seconds

Base Running
10u – Utah Attack – Amanda & Ellie – 28.3 seconds
12u – Utah Blast – Karli & Gentry (?) – 12.5 seconds
14u – Hot Shotz (Bendt) – Tazz & Avery – 11.9 seconds
16u – Bukoos – Maddy – 11.4 seconds

Pitcher
10u – Utah Thunder – Katelyn – 40mph
12u – Idah Sliders – Megan – 51mph
14u – Hot Shotz (Bendt)– Brook – 55mph
16u – Crush – Shelby – 55 mph

Catcher
10u – Utah Dynamite – Riley
12u – Utah Liberty – Jayden
14u – DC Avalanche – won in a 5-way playoff
16u – Crush – Kyrae

Home Run
10u – Utah Dynamite – Maddie
12u –
14u – Hot Shotz (Franco) – Michelle
16u –

And a big congratulations to the winners of the actual tournament:
10u
1st place: Hot Shotz
2nd place: Carbon Dirt Devils

12u
1st place: Hot Shotz (Jackson)
2nd place: Strikers

14u
1st place: Hot Shotz (Bendt)
2nd place: Twisters

16u
1st place: Lady Freakz
2nd place: Crush

I am still tallying all the contributions and hope to have a total soon. I know many took the time to look at the posters placed throughout the ballparks at Cottonwood and Vista. Please know that because of your willingness to come and play at this tournament, our own local children will benefit from research specifically designated for childhood cancer and a few young adults will now be able to attend an adventure camp specially developed for those surviving cancer.

A special thank you:
to Makelle Wood, who worked very hard in organizing the volunteers and the chaotic schedule, which was an enormous endeavor; the extra special touches with posters and pins of Nick; whose circle of family and friends seem to be limitless;

to SL County Parks & Rec for donating the fields and forging through the tricky task of pool play and tournament scheduling;

to the umpires that braved periodic bouts of frustration from parents and coaches, while calling games single-handedly – and especially to those that donated their earnings back to WACKY and looked mighty spiffy to make the championship games first class;

to each and every volunteer who made this event a success; the photographers, the concession stand workers, the endless errand runners, the scorekeepers;

to Nick’s extra special friends – Ty, Mark, Andrew, Makelle, Kailey, Kelli, Caitlin, Austin and the Macrum family – you all represented Nick perfectly – I couldn’t be more proud;

to Denise, who stood by my side as I handed out tee shirts and expressed my gratitude to each team as they were eliminated – each time my voice giving way to tears as I knew Nick was also standing by my side, his arm draped loose around my shoulder, grinning ear to ear.

to Lee, who gave me the confidence and strength when my fragile heart didn’t want to host a tournament this year having just said goodbye to Nick 3 months earlier. He helped me remember why we do it, why we go forward, why we want to help so that no other mother has to say goodbye to her child because of cancer. He duplicated my efforts at Vista while I held down the fort at Cottonwood. He is my #1 WACKY warrior!

…and especially a thank you to all the players, coaches and parents. You all made it fun! This tournament has become such a wonderful event. We promise to improve each year as we learn the ins and outs of hosting a tournament. I hope to have next year’s date and venue announced by January, 2012. Until then, stay WACKY!

With enormous gratitude,

Lori Brower