'It's a showcase of Bucyrus:' Little League tournament brings 49 teams to local parks

Originally, the Tommy Slugfest was about helping one man. But in the years since, the annual Bucyrus Little League tournament has helped the entire community.

The event was named in honor of Tom Smith, a former Little League coach who's now the Wynford High School baseball coach, explained Scott Langenderfer, a Little League board member and tournament director.

"He was suffering with throat cancer and we started the tournament as a fundraiser for his family to help offset medical costs as he battled through throat cancer," he said. "So that's how it started — what, nine years ago now."

In the years since 2014, organizers have used the proceeds of what's become an annual event to benefit other families in need — cancer patients or families struck by disasters, such as a house fire. In all, they've donated about $40,000 to various families and organizations, Lengenderfer said.

Along the way, the tournament has evolved and its reputation has grown, he said. This year's event, which ended Sunday, attracted 49 teams from across the region. They come because Bucyrus is centrally located, it's a well-organized event, and "the fact that we have experience in running these because we've been doing it so long."

One other factor: "We have some of the nicest fields in the state of Ohio here in Bucyrus," Langenderfer said.

Ballfields at local parks have been improved

That's no accident: Bucyrus Little League volunteers have been using proceeds from other tournaments and grant money to make improvements at both Aumiller and Lions parks.

The Tommy tournament was Bucyrus' fourth — and largest — tournament this year, said Steve Rittenour, who organizes the tournaments. One was in April, two in May.

The smaller tournaments average 34 teams, while this weekend's tournament brought in 49 teams. In all, more than 120 teams participated in tournaments this year, he said. Some are local, and some are from the Akron, Columbus, Findlay and Sandusky areas — even a team from Indiana, "our first out-of-state team." Teams from Upper Sandusky, Marion, and Mansfield come to play, too.

'A huge shout-out'

Before one of the May tournaments, it rained for days, Rittenour said. Tournaments all across Ohio were canceled, but not the one in Bucyrus. The night before the event, he and Langenderfer spent hours coming up with plans and backup plans and communicating with coaches.

"We were able to complete that entire tournament — I think we only missed four games, if I'm correct, out of that entire tournament," Rittenour said. "And these coaches were just mesmerized by the fact we were able to pull this off."

The father of a player on a Delaware-area team runs a podcast affiliated with ESPN, and "gave us a huge shout-out on his podcast," Rittenour said.

"Basically, he couldn't even tell it had rained, we worked so hard," he said. "He was just super-appreciative of our efforts, basically. And we truly appreciate that. ...

"That's kind of the reputation we're trying to build and starting to achieve."

"It's those kind of comments that keep us going," Langenderfer said.

Play expands to Lions Park diamonds

Aumiller Park has five diamonds, and they've also expanded play to Lions Park, where two additional field are available. The older divisions play there, he said.

"We updated lighting at Aumiller," Rittenour said. "We put about $20,000 into brand-new LED lights for a field there to allow us to play some night games. We bought $10,000 professional dragging equipment."

Lions Field had fallen into disrepair in recent years, so some of the funding was used to resurface fields there and purchase equipment.

While the improvements are great for tournaments, kids in the local Little League program "benefit from having some of the best facilities around to play their Little League games on," Rittenour said.

"This spring has been the worst spring I can remember in the last 10 years to try to get baseball games in, but because we have the proper equipment, because of the grant and what it has provided for us, it allows us to be able to maintain these fields and play when nobody else ... in the area is playing, we're still playing," Langenderfer said.

Bucyrus Little League serves more than 900 children from four local school districts — Bucyrus, Wynford, Colonel Crawford and Buckeye Central, they said. Participants are between the ages of 4 and 15.

"We want to give back to the community," Langenderfer said. "We want to show our kids. People did it for us, so we want to give back as well. So this is our way of doing that."

Grant funding for the improvements came from Bucyrus Little League, the John Q. Shunk Association, private donations, Timken Foundation, the Community Foundation for Crawford County and individual businesses, they said.

"You bring in people from out of town, and they come to little Bucyrus here in Crawford County and they're just mesmerized at how beautiful the park and fields are," Rittenour said. "They can't believe it; it's like a hidden gem as far as baseball is concerned in the area. ... When word started to get out that go to Bucyrus, Ohio, they have great facilities, a great park, good run tournaments, it just took off like a wildfire."

Because of these investments, they're able to get games in regardless of inclement weather — something that doesn't always happen at tourney sites.

People also like knowing that the Bucyrus tournaments are run entirely by volunteers, he added — no one pockets any money from the tournaments. Proceeds either go back into the Little League program or, in the case of the Tommy tournament, a beneficiary.

The beneficiary for this year's tournament has not yet been determined.

'It's a showcase of Bucyrus'

There's a group of 15 to 20 people who help make it happen — coaches and board members, he said. They mow the grass, empty the trash and more.

During the tournaments, volunteers from the Crawford County Junior Fair Board and football teams from Colonel Crawford and Wynford have helped out. The local players help out during tournaments, too — picking up trash, emptying trash cans, dragging fields between games and more, Langenderfer said.

"We need more help," Rittenour said. "We have an aging board. We have several members of the board that their children are about to age out, due to regulations. They're getting older. Over the years, our volunteer base and our board base have severely declined. It is a thankless job. As I said before, we don't make a cent. We do it out of the goodness and kindness of our heart and if I said there was one need that we have, it is for new, fresh volunteers to join us so that we can continue this for future generations."

They also credited the City of Bucyrus for its support — everything from helping with portable toilets to donating free swim passes for players during the weekend tournament.

"They know that these teams, these players, these parents are not only coming to Aumiller Park, but they're eating at the restaurants in town, they're staying in our hotels in town. they're getting gas in town," Langenderfer said. "It's a showcase of Bucyrus."

ggoble@gannett.com

419-559-7263

This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Volunteers behind success of Bucyrus Little League tournaments