GREENVILLE – The Greenville Citizens Baseball League (GCBL) held its eighth annual three-day rec ball Tyler Kuhn Memorial Baseball Tournament at Greenville’s Sater Heights Park.
“For many of us board members, it’s our favorite tournament of the year – to honor Tyler,” said GCBL Tournament Director Keith Heidrich. “Just a great kid, and we like to do this to keep Tyler in our thoughts.”
The annual tournament is held to honor Tyler Kuhn, a 2012 Greenville Senior High School graduate who tragically lost his life in a car accident on October 2, 2012.
Kuhn wore No. 10 for the Greenville Green Wave high school baseball team. He was the team’s starting centerfielder and stood for everything that is right in the game of baseball.
No. 10 continues to stand out boldly on the dark green outfield fence on the main diamond, home of the Greenville Senior High School baseball team.
“It stands out on our outfield wall,” Heidrich said of No. 10. “The dark green wall with that 10 out there. No one will wear number 10 again. Great family, great people.”
The weekend tournament, which was made up of strictly rec ball teams, saw 21 teams make their way to Greenville for the annual event. Rec ball is affordable and allows young players to enjoy the game of baseball without the expenses of select ball.
“You don’t need $2000 to play on a rec All-Star team,” Heidrich noted. “Most of them are free with great sponsors that support everybody. It keeps that cost much lower and affordable for all families.”
“Select ball is definitely growing, but it’s not so much in our area,” he added. “You go here, and north, Elect is not as popular as when you get towards Dayton. There are great rec All-Start programs north of us.”
The weekend tournament was played under perfect skies and temperature bringing large crowds to the annual tournament.
“We were blessed this weekend to have this weather,” said Heidrich. “Last year, it was three tournaments of nothing but rain, but we’re 2-for-2 this year with the mid-’70s and partly cloudy. I’ll take that every tournament.”
GCBL tournaments are free to families and the community and have affordable concession prices.
“Most tournaments charge at the gate,” Heidrich said. “We try to keep everything very affordable for everybody. Our concession stand is much lower than most other concession stands. We do that for a reason. Robby Jones does a great job in there, but it’s all about people not having to pay a mortgage to come down to their kid’s baseball tournament.”
“I was looking down the lines, and both the right and left field lines were packed with aunts, uncles, grandma, and grandpas,” he added. “Everyone is there to support the kids, and these kids appreciate the support also.”
Heidrich is pleased with the opportunity to learn and grow playing baseball while helping keep the young players off the streets.
“The life lessons you can learn playing baseball or just watching baseball, coaching baseball, umpiring baseball, there are so many great life lessons when it comes to baseball that transitions over to what you do on a daily basis in life,” Heidrich said.
“I want to thank our board members who ready these diamonds,” Heidrich concluded. “We get great help on the diamonds and the concession stands; everyone pulls their weight. It takes a village to make all this work. There’s a lot of moving parts, and we couldn’t do it without all the volunteers we have.”
