Ron’s Ringers Softball Tournament Benefit

Matthew’s on Main wins Ron’s Ringers tourney

Win over Stone Arch Inn caps off weekend of softball and a benefit for Emily Grimm

By RICHARD A. ROSS

COCHECTON CENTER, NY - There’s nothing like a great softball tournament to bring out the crowds, rivalries among local teams and the unbridled joys of summer. All of that, and more, were part of the annual Ron’s Ringers Softball Tournament held at Heinle’s Field on July 13 through 15.

As Matthew’s on Main prepared to take on Stone Arch Inn in a repeat of last year’s championship, which ended in a tie, wrought by ensuing darkness, before the teams could play a tie-breaking game, this year’s weekend was set to conclude with its own unique set of stories.

The three-day fest featured 12 area teams, who battled bravely through a parade of games that eventually culminated in Matthew’s on Main’s 11-7 win over their longtime rival, and granted the men in navy blue sole possession of this year’s crown.

The games and their highlights made for a great story, but softball tournaments are usually community events in every sense of the word. Not only do they feature local players, sponsored by area businesses, they also serve as benefits for people who are in need of support and funds.

This year’s tournament was a benefit for 14-year-old Emily Grimm of Barryville, who had a heart transplant at New York-Columbia Presbyterian Hospital on September 22, 2006. Grimm, her dad, Bob, and his partner Donna, were on hand on Sunday to watch some of the action being played.

According to tournament organizer Ron Canfield, proceeds from the weekend were expected to exceed $4,000 dollars and would to be added to the fund for Emily that remains open at the Eldred branch of the First National Bank of Jeffersonville. The fund was set up to help to defray the medical costs that have accrued since Emily first became ill a year ago. Donations can still be made by writing checks payable to The Fund for Emily Grimm.

Emily sat in her wheelchair, wearing lime-green Crocs and a ventilator to help her breathe. Although the heart transplant was a success, she continues to suffer from a rare neuromuscular disease known as myofibrillar myopathy—one of a group of skeletal muscle diseases that are frequently associated with the heart muscle. Doctors are unsure about much of the details surrounding the illness, but the family is hopeful that Emily will continue to make progress and eventually get off of the ventilator.

To that end, Bob has promised his daughter a PT Cruiser if she can achieve that milestone, and this writer got an offer to have Emily chauffeur him around in it when that great day arrives.

The idea of using this tournament, already noteworthy as part of the celebration of Canfield’s final season, as a benefit for Grimm came from Town of Cochecton Justice Bob Meyer.

Canfield, who has been playing since 1966, has long said that when he reached 60, he’d hang it up. With that November 14 milestone looming on the horizon, the softball icon is keeping his word, but not before he and his team, Ron’s Ringers, play this summer.

A second Ron’s Ringers tournament is set for early September, as a benefit for the Heinle’s Field to replace its aging bleachers. It is a place that holds many memories for Canfield, as he once played for Heinle’s prior to starting Ronny’s Ringers in 1990. Canfield hopes to continue playing in Florida.

Ron’s Ringers took third place in this year’s tournament, after succumbing to Stone Arch Inn in the loser’s bracket final by the score of 15-3. The team proudly gathered with Ron to pose for a picture as daylight waned at the tournament’s conclusion. During their run, Ron’s Ringers defeated MMM, Davis Excavating and R+H Gorr, before losing to Matthew’s and Stone Arch Inn.

Canfield and Grimm were joined in the spotlight by umpire Benny Chesnick, now 80, who took his turn behind the plate this weekend to call balls and strikes. Chesnick is now in his 45th season and has been involved in the game for 70 years. Rumor has it that he may be the oldest active umpire in the state. If he doesn’t lay claim to that title exclusively, he is certainly one of the game’s most senior and respected men in blue.

No tie this year as Matthew’s prevails over tiring Stone Arch Inn

As the final day of the tournament wound down, it became obvious that a rematch between last year’s co-champions was on the docket. For Stone Arch Inn, the game with Matthew’s would be their fourth of the day, a function of having entered the loser’s bracket on Friday night.

In their opener against R+H Gorr, Stone Arch saw a one-run seventh inning lead go up in smoke, with a grand slam by Ed Leroy off of a pitch dished up by Tim “Chopper” Ackermann that cleared the fence in Fremont Center.

For Leroy and his R+H Gorr teammates, it was a golden moment. But for Dennis Brockner and his Stone Arch brigade, it was the start of an arduous trek through the loser’s bracket. To win the tournament, they’d have to beat Matthew’s twice, and end up with a five-game winning streak on the final day. They’d already eked by Sutphen East 7-6 with a game-winning single by Glen Herman, avenged their loss with a 14-2 win over R+H Gorr and beaten Ron’s Ringers. “Chopper” was set to pitch his fourth straight game, as Stone Arch hoped they might be a fifth as well. But Matthew’s players voiced their intention to lay claim to the title after one win.

Matthew’s On Main had come through the tournament unscathed by a dint of wins over Lake Huntington Garage, American Electric and Ron’s Ringers. They now looked to add Stone Arch Inn to their list of conquests.

Stone Arch Inn got out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first with a RBI double by Rob Hubert, who continued his fine hitting evinced throughout the tourney. A sac fly by Morgan Mitterwager followed suit.

Matthew’s got one back in the bottom of the frame, with a RBI double from eventual tourney MVP Mike Weir.

Matthew’s starter Brian “Mooner” Buday held Stone Arch Inn scoreless in the second, while his teammates tied the game in the bottom of the frame, as Stone Arch Inn outfielders Herman and Gary Hubert collided in the outfield on a ball hit by Glen Rosenberger.

Stone Arch Inn took a 5-2 lead in the top of the third, with a two-run double by Herman and a RBI single by Dave “Hop” Hubert, only to see Matthew’s on Main come back with four of their own in the bottom of the inning, and assume a 6-5 lead with RBI from Weir, Brian Kitson and E.T. Toledo. Matthew’s would never trail again, and would limit Stone Arch Inn to only one more run on the day, a RBI single by Mitterwager in the fifth.

Matthew’s got three in the fourth, with RBI from Matt Buddenhagen, John Wilhelm and Brian Kitson. They added a pair of insurance runs in the sixth to make it 11-7, with RBI from Wilhelm and Weir.

At the tourney’s conclusion, players from Stone Arch Inn posed with their second-place trophy, followed by the 2007 champion Matthew’s On Main squad. Weir and Canfield stood side by side, as the former was handed the MVP trophy.

It was a great weekend, a phenomenal benefit and a prelude to more fine tournaments set for this summer, including the Fremont Center Tourney slated for August 4 and 5. That tournament will feature many of the same teams from this tournament, and several from Pennsylvania. Other tournaments will include one at White Sulphur Springs and the second Ron’s Ringers tourney in September.

There’s a lot more fun coming before the leaves begin to turn as the boys of summer do what they do best.

Visit riverreportersports.com for an album containing hundreds of tournament photos.