TUPATALK: Remembering former Legion baseball warrior Cameron Layne Witzel
Doenges Ford Indians head coach John Pannell eyed a grueling three days of marathon baseball action last weekend at Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium.
But, in the midst of it Pannell also took time out of his hectic schedule to pay sad homage to a former player.
Cameron Layne Witzel had passed away on May 16, only about a decade-and-a-half after had played for Pannell.
The Bartlesville High graduate was only 32.
My sympathy goes out to the Cameron’s loved ones, especially his wife Ashley, children
Hunter and Carson, parents Layne and Janet and grandparents Ernie and Susie Milligan.
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Cameron didn’t not have an easy life healthwise for many years.
Back during his playing days, he put off needed major surgery for a summer to that he could play Legion baseball, Pannell noted.
Cameron also started for the Bartlesville High School baseball team.
The personality trait Pannell said he remembers most about Witzel “was his smile.”
He also recalled how hard Witzel played on the diamond “and he had fun playing the game.”
Cameron endured great pain, due to his medical condition and surgery, as a Cameron went on to play baseball at Kansas City-Kansas Community College and transferred to Oklahoma State.
In 2002, Cameron played for the Bartlesville Bruins, who finished as the runner-up team the 12-year-old AAA city championship tournament in 2002.
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During the final game — won by the Seminoles, 7-4 — Cameron helped the Bruin rally from a 4-0 deficit when he ripped a ringing single to score Dacus Doornbos.
Cameron resided with his family in Collinsville at his passing.
The memorial took place Saturday morning at Prairie Song in Dewey.
Again, my condolences to the Witzel family and Cameron’s many, many friends.
In regards to times of hardship and reflection, I’ve always appreciated the following observation by Minnie Louise Haskins:
“And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’
And he replied:
‘Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
‘That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.’
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.
And he led me toward the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.”
— Minnie Louise Haskins
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: TUPATALK: Focus on former Legion baseball battler Cameron Witzel
