By AARON SNYDER — The Independent
FLATWOODS
July 17, 2008 11:14 pm
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The 2008 Kentucky Little League Softball Tournament is officially over, but, according to those involved, it may not have even begun without the help of numerous volunteers and sponsors.
The tournament was held at Russell-Flatwoods Complex in Flatwoods, which consists of two fields. It has been around for more than 40 years and is owned by Virginia and Elmer Webb.
“It took a lot of people to get this done,” said Russell-Flatwoods Complex President John Montanez. “We had people working out (on the complex) until two or three in the morning and then getting up to go to work the next day.”
The state tournament included 16 total teams made up of three separate divisions — 9- and 10-year-olds, 10- and 11-year-olds and 11- and 12-year-olds. The tournament lasted a total of five days, from Saturday to Wednesday, and consisted of 27 total games.
The opportunity to host a state tournament only comes around every six years for each district in Kentucky. Ashland was the last to host a state tournament, which was in 2002.
“We wanted the teams to come in from out of town and say, ‘man, Russell’s put on a show for us. Their hospitality was great,’” Montanez said.
According to Bill Haeberlin, the tournament director, everything turned out just as planned.
“We treated everybody as well as we could,” Haeberlin said. “Everyone was happy. I had several coaches say that they liked the way the tournament was run.
“The main thing was that we were good to the girls,” he added.
Haeberlin was also impressed with the talent of the softball players at all levels.
“Even the kids that are 9 and 10 years old; they know how to play, know how to run the bases, hustle on the field. It’s a good bunch.
“In four or five years, people will see these kids on the high school field, and say ‘hey, I remember when they played over at Russell in the state tournament.’”
South Hardin took the 9- and 10-year-old title, North Oldham emerged as the 10- and 11-year-old victors and Russell-Flatwoods took the crown in the 11- and 12-year-old division.
The nearly week-long event kicked off with a catered picnic sponsored by Texas Roadhouse last Friday.
However, the preparation began some time before that.
“We’ve been planning for months,” said Haeberlin, who found out they would be the host three years ago. “About six or seven weeks ago, we started to meet at least one day a week. John (Montanez) spearheaded the project and got after it—the tents, trailers, concession stands, it was all John.”
Montanez and Haeberlin were not alone in the mission.
“We probably had 15 people that volunteered since 3 o’clock last Friday,” Haeberlin said. “They did whatever we asked them to do and more.”
According to Haeberlin and Montanez, they also could not have done it without the hard work from Connie Baldridge, the assistant director, and Tonia Buchanan, the host site assistant.
Of the volunteers, two are retired. Gene Mullins and Virgil Elswick were essential ingredients to a successful tournament.
“They have worked year long out here,” Montanez said. “They work 70-plus hours a week out here and don’t get a dime. They don’t even have kids in the battle out here.
“You find a couple guys like that and all they want is a ‘thank you.’”
The event was certainly a boost to the local economy, including all of the revenue from food, lodging, team registration and more.
“We looked at it as a whole picture that it would be something good for the community and good for the area,” Montanez said. “We opened ourselves up to a big tournament like this and the only way to do that is by putting your all into it and putting on a class act.”
Each day saw an impressive turnout, including the opening round on Saturday, on which Montanez said they parked about 500 cars around the complex.
“You looked out there and saw a big bunch of people that had no ties to this thing at all,” Montanez said. “People were coming and bringing their family to watch softball. The interest of it is huge.”
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