Team chemistry more important than ever
JUNCTION CITY — For the first time, Junction City will become the epicenter of Babe Ruth baseball in the early summer. The first annual Bobby Doerr Classic, which will be held June 21 and 22 at Laurel Fields in Junction City, provides the citizens of Junction City with a consistent baseball event that will become an institution within the city’s baseball program.
“We’re hoping to generate support in this community for youth baseball,” Justin Carley, one of the tournament’s organizers, said. Carley, and fellow youth coaches Jon Edwards and Bob Collins, came up with the idea for the tournament just over a month ago and have put in hours in meetings to plan the tournament.
“We had to start from square one on how to put together a tournament in our hometown,” Carley said. Everything from figuring out brackets for tournaments to organizing parking and concessions has been a part of the planning process.
Though all the spots have not yet been filled, the tournament planners hope to see a total of 28 teams in the tournament. There are two separate tournaments, one for players 10 and under, and another for players 12 and under.
The structure of the tournament will be a first day of pool play to figure out the hierarchy of skill among the teams. The second day will feature a semi-final and final round that will determine the champions. Edwards said that over half the teams are locked in already, and he may have to turn some applicants down. Carley is impressed with the positive feedback the tournament has received throughout the area.
“We’ve gotten great responses from all over about this,” Carley said. “It’s going to be a great thing for this community.”
The entry fee for the tournament is $250 per team, and the application deadline was June 11.
The tournament is named for Bobby Doerr, a 1986 member of the Baseball Hall of Fame and a resident of Junction City. Doerr was born in 1918 in Los Angeles and played 12 seasons for the Boston Red Sox. He batted .288 for his career with 2,042 hits, 1,247 RBI’s and 223 homeruns. Doerr was the defensive backbone at second base for the Red Sox teams that featured one of baseball’s all-time greatest hitters in Ted Williams. Doerr did everything he could to keep the Sox in the 1946 World Series, hitting .409. Williams famously called Doerr “the silent captain of the team.” Carley and Edwards knew that Doerr would be an important part of any big baseball tournament in Junction City.
“When you have a hall-of-famer around and you want to do something with baseball, that’s the logical step,” Carley said.
Fundraising will be a huge part of this tournament. Edwards said he is hoping the tournament will raise $5,000-$7,000, half of which will go to the tournament’s sponsor, Junction City Athletics. The Junction City High School baseball program is involved with the tournament, as well. Tigers’ head coach Tony Stavros will be the head umpire for the tournament. Edwards said that he hopes that some of the profits from the tournament can go back to the high school program so that they can build on this year’s success.
Even though this is the first year of the tournament, Edwards and Carley have lofty goals. They are looking beyond one successful tournament. They want this to be a cornerstone of the community.
“I want this to become the place to play baseball in the third week of June,” Edwards said. “And everything we get from this tournament will go to kids in Junction City that will benefit from this tournament.”