Tournament remembers

Will Dicus
By Steve Behr

It seemed the only thing that would try to ruin the 2009 Will Dicus Baseball Tournament was Mother Nature.

Rain turned the fields at Optimist Park into Lake Little League Saturday, but it did not keep the 12 teams which participated in the two-day event from having a chance to play some baseball and to pay tribute to Dicus, the former Watauga High student and baseball player who died of Ewing’s Sarcoma on June 1.

Most of the teams came from the area, namely Watauga, Ashe, Avery and Wilkes Counties, though a team from Abingdon, Va. also played in the tournament, which was for teams aged under-8, under-10 and under-12 years old.

The teams were the main attraction,but according to tournament director Marty Lambert, the event raised over $4,000 to help the Dicus family pay for Will’s medical expenses.

Several people volunteered their time to keep the tournament’s expenses down. Umpire Dave Shervington donated $200 worth of games, while fellow umps Jim Godwin and Roachel Laney worked their games for free, saving the tournament an overall $300 worth of umpiring fees.

“All the umpires did a great job,” Lambert said.

Other volunteers donated several other services, including Jay Jackson donating a sound system for two fields.

Bill Greer, Teresa Gibbs, Vickie Lambert and Teresa Isaacs all donated their time time as gate operators.

Carol Soule, Karen McNeil and Tink Mizner, Andrew Lambert donated time and items to the concession stands, according to Matthew Lambert.

So did, Robin Chambers, Donna Greene and Mark Greene, according to Lambert. Rob Brown, Andrew Brown, John Wiswell and Jeff Shore donated their time for scoreboard operation and public address announcing. Jack Chambers donated his time as field supervisor, site manager and was the umpire coordinator during the tournament. There were other volunteers who helped out, according to Lambert.

“It’s a thankless job and it went flawlessly,” Lambert said.

The sponsors of the tournament were Mike’s Inland Seafood, Lowes Hardware, Coke of Boone, Pepsi and Little Caesar’s Pizza.