August 22, 2008

TimesSports

Play’n out’a Love

Softball tournament celebrates Evergreen hometown hero

By Jeremy Barousse
Special to the Times

The 95-degree weather didn’t stop the 300 people from gathering at Bogini Park in Evergreen on Saturday, July 25, to take part in the Second Annual Play’n Out’a Love Softball Tournament to celebrate a family hero.

The Play’n Out’a Love banner announces the tournament.

The tournament is held in honor of longtime Evergreen resident Antonio “Cesar” Isais, who succumbed to cancer in 2005 and hosted by his five children.

This year, the tournament brought in $7,100 for Pathways Hospice Foundation, the same caretaker group that cared for Antonio when he was terminally ill.

According to Antonio’s oldest son Jeff, the Isais family was blown away with the amount of care that Pathways provided their ailing father with and decided they wanted to give back. “Pathways came in and did a great job for my father after he was diagnosed with cancer,” Jeff said. “The lady who came out to our house got really close with our family. So we wanted to give back.”

And give back they did.

The five Isais children and their mother Shirley got a nonprofit tax ID and started planning a softball tournament to raise money for the foundation they fell in love with.

The Memorial event was meaningful to all of the players.

“Pathways didn’t have a softball tournament yet, so we decided to host one in my father’s name,” said Jeff.

The family, with help of extended family and friends hit the community in search of sponsors and donations to make the tournament come to life, and registered 10 teams of 12 players to a team for this year’s event.

According to Jeff, they decided to name the tournament Play’n Out’a Love to mirror the generosity and compassion for friends and family that the late Antonio lived by.

“My father took in a lot of friends and family into his home,” Jeff said. “And didn’t charge them anything. Every-thing he did, he did out of the goodness of his heart. He was a very giving and loving person.”

Some of the teams included Klondike’s Pizza, who defeated the team, When’s Happy Hour in the final game to become tournament champions.

Those teams were given trophies and t-shirts.

Team Pathways and Jubilee Sport Ministry celebrate a fun game.

Other teams were the Jubilee Christian Center and Pathway’s own team, the Pathway Angels. Holly Smith, the Event Sponsorship Manager for Pathways was in attendance for the entire tournament and said it was the nonprofit’s favorite charity event.

“At Pathways, we talk about this event all year long,” Smith said. “This is a great family, they are an excellent example of giving and caring. We love them, they work together and what really amazes me is the respect they have for the older generation.”

Smith said that the proceeds will go into a legacy fund established in Antonio’s name and will be distributed out to uninsured families for hospice care.

Proceeds came from a $20 per player registration, raffle tickets and flat donations. Some of the raffle prizes included free dinners for two as well as Home Depot and Bed, Bath and Beyond gift certificates.

The family also provided a bounce house for children and catering from Tinoco’s.

George Sandoval and Carlos Rosa celebrate a rare catch.

Last year’s inaugural event was held at Bramhall Park in the Willow Glen district and consisted of only 4 teams.
However, the tournament in its first year still managed to raise $4,800.

Jeff and the rest of the Isais children decided to move the tournament to Evergreen, to where Antonio lived and raised his family.

“We grew up here in Evergreen,” Jeff said. “This park is our backyard, we grew up across the street. Now we’d like to see this tournament get bigger, it’s for a good cause.”

When the tournament was all said and done, one of Antonio’s daughters, Erika said that it was well worth the energy.
“It was a good turnout,” Erika said. “My dad loved baseball and softball, he coached his kids growing up. This was his sport.”

Houston wins Palomino World Series tourney

By Jeremy Barousse
Special to the Times

For the first time since 1981, the Palomino World Series made its way back to its birthplace, San Jose, Aug. 8-11 at San Jose Municipal Stadium.

The San Jose Police Activities League and Pony Baseball sponsored the four-day tournament, which brought teams from all over the country as well as the world, hailing from Puerto Rico, Taiwan and Mexico.

The American teams came from Illinois, Houston, Greensboro, N.C., Riverside, CA and included San Jose’s host team, the San Jose Blaze.

After a hard-fought tournament with several close games, the Kyle Chapman Red of Houston won the World Series with a 14-3 victory over Chinese Taipei on Aug. 11 with 12 hits on the afternoon.

Kyle Chapman exploded off to a commanding lead, scoring five runs in the first inning.

Robbie Grossman led off the game with a home run off the first pitch while Taipei failed to retire the first five batters it faced.

“I was just looking for a pitch,” Grossman said. “I was waiting for it and it came right over the plate and I hit it out.”

Jeremy Rathjen led the Houston offense with three hits and four RBIs, including a three-run homer in the fifth inning.
“I was looking fastball,” Rathjen said. “It was there over the middle.”

Rathjen, who will be playing baseball for Rice University as a freshman in the fall, said it was an overall effort by the entire team to become champions.

“We played good,” Rathjen said. “We went into the tournament and played well, pitched well. It was fun, we had a good time playing in this tournament.”

Houston pitcher Kyle Winkler (#33), Joe Gagliardi, West Zone Vice President, Jonathan Ramirez (#19), and Gary Ferraro, Assistant Regional Director.

Designated Hitter Jonathan Ramirez, who was named the tournament’s batting champion with a .571 batting average, pitched in with two hits and two RBIs while team pitching-ace Kyle Winkler was named ERA Champion for holding a 1.00 ERA during the entire tournament.

According to Grossman, who will be playing baseball for the University of Texas in the fall, the team went into the tournament to have fun, and the winning followed.

“We came in here to just have as much fun as we could,” Grossman said. “We played our butts off and got the momentum swinging our way.”

Organized by Pony in 1977, Palomino is the program’s highest level of competition, with youths aged 17-19 years.

San Jose hosted the league’s first two World Series in 1980 and 1981 before moving to various international cities including a five-year run in Santa Clara.

More than 800 Major League Baseball players are graduates of Pony Baseball, including Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Ken Griffey Jr., Cal Ripken Jr. and Alex Rodriguez.

Sports Briefs

Youth basketball league begins September 12 at Chaboya Middle School
Open to boys and girls in the 6th thru 9th grade
Teen Basketball at Chaboya Middle School begins Friday, Sept. 12, for all interested boys and girls in grades 6th thru 9th regardless of the school they are attending. Sign-ups will continue until the 120 available slots are full (60 players in 2 divisions).

There will be two co-ed divisions of 6 teams and no more than ten players on each team. In this "funpetitive" league everyone plays equal time.

Practices are usually no more than once a week and we are looking for coaches (most practice right before their games). Cost for the league is $120, which includes a game jersey, nine games, personal basketball, participation medal, 1st and 2nd place trophies, facility use and officials.

For more information or to register, phone (408) 605-1513 or 410-3570 and ask for either Allen Ventura or John Franza. You can also stop by Chaboya, or e-mail E.A.S.Y. Hoops Basketball @ easyhoopsbasketball@yahoo.com to obtain a registration form.

This year's Fall league will be dedicated to Brian "BJ" Hom. BJ was a participant in our league and depicted the true essences for the love of the game of basketball before suddenly falling ill this past summer and passing away suddenly. "BJ" as he was called, will be a placed on each player's jersey.

Be a part of this exciting league every Friday afternoon and prepare yourself for your upcoming school and recreational leagues.

2008 Komen San Francisco Race for the Cure
This annual 5K Race/Walk and 1 Mile Fun Walk is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008
Race path is along the Embarcadero, starting at the Ferry Building.

Register online at www.komensf.org. For more information visit www.komensf.org or call 415-397-8812

Go 4 Gold Soccer School
Go 4 Gold Soccer School presents its 2008 Summer Soccer Camps program. We offer week long, coed soccer camps for players age 5 - 16 in both San Jose and Los Gatos, coached by our staff of highly trained, certified professionals. Go 4 Gold also offers year round GoalKeeping & Field Player Academies every Sunday from 5 – 7 p.m.

For a camp schedule, locations or additional information, please call 997-7775 or visit www.go4goldsoccer.com.

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