Oct 8th

October 6, 2026 (Liberty Park Sports Complex)

RED wins RASSA Ted Pate Benefit Tournament: A hitting onslaught carried Bill Lovell’s Red team to the Ted Pate tournament championship on a pristine fall day. Jim Anderson pointed out the opening win over Blue was the result of changes in the Red batting order, putting him at leadoff where he has always belonged. “My heroic hit on the game’s first pitch set the tone for the whole team and the first 9 batters all reached base. After that we never looked back and took a 20 to 5 lead before Blue finally scored 6 runs in the last inning. Red’s 20 to 11 win was the result of a hard-to-beat .778 team batting average and a .795 on-base percentage. Wayne Pike, finally back from a long absence, was 4 for 4 and Buddy Cannon, Pete DiChiara, Jim Thompson, Harold Fincher, and Ron Imgram were all 3 for 3. The Blue team missed manager Sid Hilton, out for a new knee. Blue hitters had a team batting average of .576; Rick Alston was 3 for 3 and John Remley and Rel Underwood were 2 for 2.

The championship game pitted Red against Sky Blue and the result was pretty much the same. Red’s hitting continued to overwhelm the opposition. In a game that featured 8 out-of-the-park hits, 4 by Red and 4 by Sky Blue, Red took a 15 to 13 lead into the open inning. Then they scored 15 more to put the game out of reach, an inning when every player on the team reached base. Every Red player scored sometime in the game. Red hitters had a .756 team batting average and a .759 on-base percentage. Jim Raley and Hootie Ingram were 5 for 5 and Buddy Cannon was 4 for 4.  Finch and JT both hit 2 balls over the fence. Sky Blue manager Jeff Tyler remained upbeat. “We played a good game and scored 15 runs. That’s enough to win in an average game. But Red was just in one a those grooves ya can’t stop.” Sky Blue hitters had a .639 team batting average. Jeff Tyler, Royce O’Donnell, and Ronnie Muro were all 3 for 3 and hit balls over the fence; Jeff two and Royce and Ronnie one each.

Sky Blue beat Green 19 to 18 in a nail-biter to reach the championship game. Green entered the open inning behind by one run and scored two to take an 18 to 17 lead and then got a quick out on Sky Blue. But Glenn Little singled, David Riche doubled and Wayne Sheets singled to load the bases. Harold Hagler’s roller forced Glenn out at home for the second out and the bases were still loaded. Duffy Vandeford strode to the plate confidently and hit the first pitch into the left field gap, all the way to the fence, driving in the game-winning runs. Sky Blue hitters had a .647 team batting average and a .684 on-base percentage. David Bedwell and Jeff Tyler were 3 for 3, Ronnie Muro was 2 for 2 with a walk, and David Riche was 2 for 2. Charles Jones, Jeff Tyler, Scott Wadsworth and Ronnie Muro each hit a ball out of the park. Cecil Kwong was satisfied with Green’s game. “We hit well and scored enough to win. We just couldn’t stop ‘em when we needed to.’ Green hitters had a .667 team batting average and .714 on-base percentage. Gene Garcia and Phillip Cheek were 4 for 4 and Jerry Bevel was 3 for 3 with a walk.

Green went on to win the consolation game over Blue, 26 to 16 in what was a close, low-scoring game where Blue led 10 to 9 until the open inning when Green exploded for 17 runs and Blue could only answer with 6. Green hitters had a .702 team batting average and a .714 on-base percentage. David Ferguson and Gene Garcia were both 4 for 4. Blue hitters had a .615 team batting average and .634 on-base percentage. David Brasfield was 3 for 3.

Ted Pate, long-time RASSA player and good friend to many of us, attended the game and chatted with friends. Players gathered with him to express their appreciation and support for him and admired his resilience in the face of a difficult challenge. We all prayed for God’s attention and mercy. All proceeds from the tournament were given to Ted; Bobby Watkins contributed the entry fee even though he couldn’t play, and donations and proceeds were substantial and gratefully received.