The fifth annual Ruby Rutnik Memorial Softball Tournament is scheduled for Friday through Sunday, April 6-8, on St. John.
Interscholastic girls' varsity and junior varsity teams from St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John are expected to take part, as are men's modified slow-pitch teams from St. Thomas and St. John.
The tournament was established by the family of Ruby Rutnik, daughter of Andrew Rutnik and Janet Cook-Rutnik, who was killed in an automobile crash in 1996 during her senior year at American University. As an Antilles School student, Ruby had been an outstanding softball athlete. The annual sports event serves both to honor Ruby's memory and to raise funds for two college scholarships for young St. John women.
Last year 11 girls' teams and four men's teams signed up to take part.
Play gets under way in the Winston Wells Ball Park at 3 p.m. that Friday with varsity girls' games. The girls' competition continues all day Saturday. For the men, the first two games will follow the welcoming ceremony Friday at 6:30 p.m., and the competition will resume Saturday evening with three more games.
On Sunday morning, following an interfaith worship service, playoffs will be held for girls' varsity and junior varsity teams and then the men's teams.
Proceeds from the tournament, raised mainly through sponsorship of game innings, go toward two annual college scholarships of $2,500 each. Sponsorships are $100 per game inning. Commemorative T-shirts will be available for purchase. Food and drinks also will be sold, with proceeds in this case to benefit St. John public school children.
The girls' ball games will consist of play for 90 minutes or five innings. Those for the men will follow a four-team double elimination format.
For further information about entering the tournament, call Eudora Kean High School coach Gayle Deller at 774-0352 evenings or over the weekend. To learn more about sponsorships, call Connections at 776-6922 or 779-4994 or the Rutniks at 776-6809.
