A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
Cherry's Avi Abramson slides in safe at home under pitcher Ella Maslowski of Carlton Meat & Grocery's U-12 team. Carlton topped Cherry for the U12 Tier 1 championship. Cloquet AJ's Landscaping bested Hermantown Purple for the U12 Tier 2 title. In U14 Tier 1, Minnesota Blast 13s took the top trophy. In U14 Tier 2, CMC Lightning came out on top.
Aydann Pollard of the Minnesota Blast reaches first base safely during the team's semifinal game against the Western Wolverines.
Abby Mitchell pitches for the Rampage Rec U14 team in the championship game against Minnesota Blast 13s Sunday at Braun Park.
Not even bad weather could stop the 20th Ashley Abrahamson Memorial Softball tournament last weekend in Cloquet at Braun Park. A total of 19 teams converged on the complex at Hilltop and, despite an overnight thunderstorm, play went on almost as scheduled on Sunday.
"The Braun complex is just a tremendous complex and the fields handle the water so well," said tournament co-director Ron Tondryk. "I really need to commend Jeff Woollett and his crew for the great job they did at getting the fields ready on Sunday."
A year ago Tondryk and his daughter, Sarah Wondrasek, and Jim and Kathy Abrahamson, Ashley's parents, talked about the possibility of ending the tournament in its 20th year.
"We had a few discussions and we all reached a mutual agreement that the 20th tournament would be our last tournament," Tondryk said. "We really never had a timeframe for how long we would hold the tournament when we first started, but all good things come to a close and we thought the 20-year mark was just time to wrap up."
The tournament was started after Ashley died in the car crash that also killed Tom and Marcia Braun, for whom the Braun Complex is named after.
"The tournament started as a way to honor Ashley and keep her name alive," Tondryk said. "We've had over 2,000 players come through during the 20 years of the tournament. None of the players who are playing now would have ever met Ashley, yet they are wearing the T-shirts that bear her name. They talk about this being the most fun of all the tournaments they play in and the kids who win the Ashley Award think that it is the greatest thing they've ever won."
The emphasis of the tournament has been to have fun and enjoy the game of softball, which was near and dear to Ashley.
"Winning and losing is totally secondary to making sure we remember that this is a game; it is about the camaraderie and the joy of playing a game with your friends," Tondryk said. "This tournament started under the most difficult of situations and has brought so much joy to so many kids."
"I think we've accomplished an awful lot of what we set out to do at the beginning."
Through the years Tondryk and Wondrasek have had a lot of help in putting on the tournament, and Tondryk felt a lot of thank-yous were in order.
"First and foremost we have to thank Jim and Kathy (Abrahamson) for all their support and efforts in making this a quality event," he said. "I also need to thank my daughter Sarah who is the one who handled all the scheduling of teams, the making of the brackets, putting up a website and all the other stuff that goes with putting on a tournament."
Tondryk also went on to issue big thanks to the Cloquet Youth Baseball/Softball Association, all the field workers and all the other volunteers who helped throughout the last 20 years.
In a special touch this year, the
first pitches were thrown out by Ashley's nieces: Adelyn Ashley Abrahamson and Zooey Ashley Abrahamson. Both Adelyn and Zooey were also awarded Ashley Awards in a special moment on Sunday.
"There were definitely some tears as the ceremony ended on Sunday," Tondryk said. "It was very fitting that we were able to honor Ashley in that way."
