EVERYTHING SPORTS IN SPOKANE

Photo courtesy of John Baker

The annual Krista L. Baker Memorial Softball Tournament aims to entertain and educate the community of the debilitating disease

BY CHELSEA SCHILTER/staff writer

As the Spokane Youth Sports Association (SYSA) softball season winds down, hundreds of girls from the SYSA teams will be winding up their pitching arms and preparing for a full weekend of softball tournaments and county fair-esque festivities. This grand finale to the summer league softball season, scheduled for July 26 and 27, also marks the eighth anniversary of the Krista L. Baker Memorial Softball Tournament, a program promoting not only athletic accomplishment, but also public education of, and response to, Cystic Fibrosis.

Baker, who lost her battle with Cystic Fibrosis at the age of 20 on August 19, 2000, was an avid SYSA player and assistant coach for multiple years. Thus, the memorial tournament is a testament to her lifelong passion for softball, coupled with her desire to positively affect the lives of organ transplant hopefuls by becoming a cornea donor.

The tournament not only features 30 to 40 highly-competitive, adolescent teams, but a number of educational tents and booths designed to promote community support and awareness of organ donation.

According to LeRoy Woodrich, sports coordinator for SYSA, the tournament is not designed exclusively for softball players, but for their families, friends and general community members as well. “This program doesn’t just benefit Spokane youth softball. It really lends a nice message from the Living Legacy Foundation and promotes organ donation. It ultimately benefits everyone. The more people we can reach and educate about it – the more people who are aware of people who are out there suffering from the disease and waiting for organs. We’d really just like to get more people from the community to attend and get interested in the tournament and in preventing the disease – especially people who are unaffiliated with softball, to show them what we are about.”

Woodrich predicts a crowd upward of 2,000 spectators in attendance, and references the tournament volunteers as a significant asset to the success of the program. “I think we’ve got over 100 volunteers for the Home Run Hitting Derby, the Dollar Root Beer Float stand, and all the different tents with all the information they try to get out to people. It’s really a lot of fun. We give the general public one of the fields for the hitting derby and they set up cones and our pitching machine; there’s different age divisions, and we give out points for how far you hit the ball. When they aren’t competing, the kids all go over and watch the adults play in the derby and the Adult All-Star Game.”

Because the tournament supports organ donation and public awareness while creating a softball scholarship, Woodrich believes it’s an unparalleled opportunity for Spokane community members. “It’s about giving every kid the opportunity to play. They get to develop skills; to have fun during the summer time. It’s a bit competitive. They get the opportunity to win a trophy, and it’s just a good way to end the season. It’s the fact that there’s a cause behind it - of bringing awareness to the community about organ donation. And it puts money back in to the program so that more girls can play – girls who maybe wouldn’t be able to afford to play. Those two causes set our program apart from other programs.”

As SYSA is a nonprofit organization, Woodrich emphasizes that all the proceeds from the tournament go toward the softball scholarship fund. In his third year participating in the tournament, he is excited to see what the turnout and community response will look like this year.

“To me, athletics and youth sports is about giving kids opportunities to play, and keeping them out of trouble,” Woodrich said. “It’s a great feeling to bring something like that to kids, especially when we can partner with companies who are looking to save lives and educate people. Any time we can be a part of a program like this, it’s just really rewarding and a great opportunity for us, the kids in our programs and for the community.”  

The Krista L. Baker Memorial Tournament will be held on July 26 and 27 in the Dwight Merkel Sports Complex, on 5901 N. Assembly Road in Spokane.

For more information regarding the event, please contact LeRoy Woodrich at leroyw@sysa.com, or refer to www.sysa.com. To enroll as an organ donor, go to www.donatelifetoday.org or call 1-877-275-5269.