Advertisement

Annual baseball invite bonds generations

Share

“Camaraderie” was a frequently used word to describe what families enjoy about Ramona Pony Baseball’s annual Memorial Day weekend tournament where this year 52 youth teams played a total of 95 games.

It was the 33rd year for the four-day Ramona Baseball Invitational (RBI) that draws teams in from all over Southern California. Teams played in seven age divisions, from 8 and under (8U) to 14U with single elimination tournament brackets.

“The kids love the tournament,” said Katrina Schreiber, tournament director. “It’s a skills competition. No pressure.”

With overcast skies and chilly temperatures, she said, “This is probably the coldest RBI game we really had to deal with.”

Clad in jackets, family members of team players watched from stands, folding chairs, or from behind baseball diamond fences, just steps away from the comfort of their temporary lodging.

About 126 families camped, said Schreiber, their trailers, RVs and tents lining baseball fields and clustered in other areas of the park. As games were played throughout each day on several different fields, players warmed up, moms pulled wagons filled with snacks and drinks, players’ siblings rode their bicycles around, and the volunteers in the snack shack kept busy grilling and feeding hungry stomachs.

Surprisingly, not all families camping were out-of-towners.

“It’s fun,” Dan Brown of Ramona said about camping. “You see all these people at the baseball fields all year long but we never really get to spend time together.”

Brown, the manager of the Ramona 9U Blue team, and father of player Hank Brown, estimated that 40 of the campers were local.

He explained that Ramona teams play each other during their regular season, which ended earlier this month, but in the tournament they compete against other communities, so Ramona families root for all hometown teams. Camping, he said, “allows you to spectate more games than if you go home in the evenings.”

The tournament draws generations of fans and connections among families can run deep.

Sitting together on a picnic table watching the Ramona Blue 7U team playing in the 8U division were grandparents Binki Wdowiack and Kathy Patterson, both of Lakeside, and Henry Schnell of Ramona. The tournament is a tradition for the three who are linked through family members.

“We haven’t missed but a game or two,” Patterson said of the tournament’s 33-year history.

Patterson explained that her son, Kyle Patterson is manager of the 7U team, and his son, Kaleb, plays on the team. Shane Edmonston, who played baseball with her son at El Capitan High School, is the team’s coach. Edmonston is Schnell’s son and Wdowiack’s son-in-law. Edmonston’s son, Ty, plays on the team with Kaleb Patterson.

“We just love watching our grandsons play. It’s so much fun,” said Wdowiack.

“We’re very happy we have this camaraderie, to ome here and watch our kids,” Kathy Patterson said.

A lot goes into planning the tournament, held as a fundraiser for the Ramona Pony League. Over the years it has grown from 20 to 52 participating teams.

“We’ve seen a kind of steady growth,” said Schreiber. She has been involved in the league for six years; this is her second year on the board and overseeing the tournament.

The Ramona Pony League board also has grown and now has 17 members, she noted.

“Everybody’s really stepped up to help,” she said.

That includes bringing in vendors and organizing evening events.

On Sunday night a classic rock concert by The Rockhounds was held and on Saturday night home run derbies were conducted for youths and for moms.

Advertisement

At a time when local news is more important than ever, support from our readers is essential. If you are able to, please support the Ramona Sentinel today.