EVANSTON — A softball tournament so vast, one weekend just wouldn’t do. To paraphrase the late Chicago Cubs legend Ernie Banks, “Then, why not play two?” Weekends, that is. Friday through Sunday, times two, is more apt, with games beginning at 7 a.m. and extending into the next day at Evanston’s Overthrust Ballfields complex. That’s right, games set to start at midnight were part of the schedule. 

All told, 59 teams in three divisions participated on June 8-10 and 15-17 in the third-annual Strike Out Cancer tournament fundraiser, orchestrated by the Uinta Cancer Care Foundation.

“We began with twelve teams and we were so excited,” foundation member Nicole Espy told the Herald, referring to the inaugural tournament in 2016.  

Last summer, in 2017, the number of teams competing doubled, but the third time around was truly record-setting, in terms of participation, overall games played and monies raised, not to mention add-on festivities. 

The combined weekends featured concessions, a beer wagon, a beer trophy, a home-run derby for both men and women, jersey sales, a silent auction, a special appearance by former Puerto Rican baseball star-turned-comedian and entertainer Domingo Ayala as “Domingo Beisbol” and more. 

Fellow foundation member Dave Bassett explained that the tournament has become the primary fundraiser for the Uinta Cancer Care Foundation. 

“And 100 percent of the proceeds will help local cancer patients with treatment and transportation costs,” Bassett said.  “There are no associated administrative fees.” 

Espy noted that this year’s fundraiser generated three times the amount raised from last year’s Strike Out Cancer effort. “We are thrilled to announce that we raised just over $15,000 this year,” Espy shared. 

The volunteer effort required to stage such an event is somewhat staggering and volunteers were many, with Espy, Kody Blevins and Gabriela Blevins being especially singled out for their contributions and leadership roles. Jessica Hicks, Cordell Hicks, Jayme Campbell Jorgensen, Bob Jorgensen, Dorinda Cobban Oliver, Cassy Payne McKenna and Mickenzie Hatch Williams were also acknowledged and thanked on the event’s Facebook page. 

Espy was also charged with determining some of the economic indicators for the event, in exchange for receiving advertising and promotional funds from the Evanston Lodging Tax and Tourism board. 

“I counted close to 250 hotel and motel rooms in the first weekend, as a direct result of the out-of-town participation,” Espy said.  

There were upper and lower brackets in each division — men’s D and E and coed — for each weekend, with championship teams from the second weekend qualifying for a national tournament berth in Florida, under modified United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) rules, as sanctioned by the Global Sports League (GSL), taking place this coming Sept. 

All winning teams were from Utah, which is not a huge surprise, as teams from the Beehive State comprised the bulk of the competition. Synergy made it a clean sweep, winning the men’s upper-bracket division on both weekends. 

Big Al’s and M&H Property Enterprises split the men’s lower-bracket titles in weekends one and two, respectively. 

In the coed bracket, Self-Made won the upper-bracket championship with Hall Electric taking the lower-bracket title in the first weekend. The second weekend witnessed Half-Cocked and Hit It & Quit It earning upper and lower-bracket crowns.