AUSABLE FORKS — The rain tried and failed to halt the 61st annual AuSable Forks FastPitch Tournament this weekend, but was unsuccessful.
In fact the only change to the schedule was the moving of the Hall of Fame ceremony from Friday to Saturday.
“If it was anywhere else in the North Country with all that rain that we had, you wouldn’t be playing,” tournament spokesman Randy Douglas said. “This field takes the rain, for whatever reason, but a lot of work was put into it to keep it playable.
“So I would say that we’re very proud of our accomplishment. We’re very proud of our community, and it’s a community event and the fans keep coming year after year. They plan their family reunions around it. They plan everything around this and here we are again, 61 years later.”
While the play on the field was entertaining, the action felt more memorable. Douglas said people plan their reunions around the second weekend in July — the time of the tournament — to return home.
It’s a time to catch up and rekindle friendships from over the years.
“It’s like a reunion of sorts for people around town,” tournament treasurer Nick McDonald said. “It was packed yesterday because the Hall of Fame was Saturday. (The Hall of Fame) has been a big hit the last two years and has drawn in lots of the older guys that used to play before us.”
Even with the change in schedule, it didn’t affect the crowds, Douglas said.
“It’s wonderful for the community,” he said. “The economic impact is felt all the way from Plattsburgh to Lake Placid as the hotel rooms are booked.
“We get teams, we get players from all over the world that come here. This is an ISC qualifier. So people come here because they want to be here. The family reunions that people are planning or get togethers around this tournament. It’s something we’re gonna keep going forever.”
The International Softball Congress (ISC) hosts an invitation only tournament later this year that the tournament winner, RM Kurtz, from Lancaster, Pa., qualified for. That tournament will be held in August in Denmark, Wisconsin.
“So this tournament a few years back, as (Tournament Director Adam Coolidge) would say, I think it was five, six years ago, they allowed us because of the quality of players and teams that come here and get to qualify for that tournament,” Douglas said.
While being crowned tournament champion was one thing, Lance Kurtz said the team felt the enjoyment from the beginning, and can’t wait to come back.
“It was our first time in the tournament and we loved it,” Kurtz said. “Winning the tournament was just a cherry on top, an exciting feeling. I definitely see us coming back as we have a title to defend.”
And just like the family reunions happening around the tournament, it felt as no coincidence of the family ties of RM Kurtz being involved in it.
“I’ve been playing FastPitch since 2001 and I love it,” Kurtz said. “I’m 38 now and have two sons growing up, who’ll likely play. I want to play as long as I can and hopefully play with them.”
The reach of this tournament knows no bounds as Coolidge mentioned. He told a story about being in Australia, wearing a tournament shirt and someone approached him to say they knew about AuSable Forks.
Douglas agreed.
“So it’s amazing when you go and you travel and wherever you’re in Florida, you’re in Illinois or wherever and people come up to you and they’ll see you wearing a hat or t-shirt representing this tournament,” he said. “They’ll tell you, ‘I went to that tournament in 1975. That’s the best tournament I ever played in.’
“And they’re comparing it to tournaments that were sections, state or national championships. So we’re very fortunate.”
Looking back at this tournament, Douglas made special mention of Scott and Mary Bombard, who the tournament was dedicated to.
The Bombards have been involved with the tournament since the 1970’s, helping in every capacity that the tournament needs, he said.
Douglas said if you’ve been to the tournament just once, you’ve seen both Scott and Mary. They’re very intricate to the running of it, with Douglas adding they’ve helped make the tournament as special as it is.
“There’s a great group of people,” he said. “There’s not just one person. It’s a group of wonderful people that put this tournament on. We’re very proud of the product we put out there.”
This is just the second year for the tournament to be back to full capacity.
With COVID restrictions in place for the past couple of years, the tournament still hasn’t fully recovered to what it once was, said McDonald.
“Yeah, it’s close. It’s not like 100% yet from where it was,” he said. “I think the biggest crowd we had was the 50th (tournament).
“I don’t know if we’ll ever hit that again. But it’s good. So even with bad weather, we still had a really good weekend.”
With the weather doing all it could to dampen the weekend for the tournament, it failed. Both Douglas and Coolidge were both proud of the turnout and excited for the future.
“Yeah, it was a great weekend with all the weather,” Douglas said. “Truly amazing work by the ground crew, tournament directors and all our organizers were very happy and very proud of what we were able to accomplish for the 61st annual tournament.
“We’re already pumped for the 62nd.”