April 7, 2001 – An enthusiastic crowd was in attendance Friday at Winston Wells Ballfield in Cruz Bay for the opening day of the fifth annual Ruby Rutnik Memorial Softball Tournament. Nine teams from across the territory are competing in the girls' interscholastic fast-pitch event.
In the first game, at 3 p.m., the Antilles School Hurricanes took on the St. Croix All-Star Team, with Antilles emerging as the 7-4 victor.
The error-ridden game was all but over following an Antilles five-run first inning.
In the second game, the Good Hope School Tigers shut out the Eudora Kean High Devil Rays, 8-0, behind strong pitching and excellent fielding from the powerhouse St. Croix private school.
The third game was a rout as the Central High Caribs outplayed the Country Day Falcons, 28-6. The game was virtually over following a 20-run first inning by the Caribs.
In the first day's final game, Friday evening, two men's modified slow-pitch teams took to the field; the Guavaberries beat As Man, 24-15.
Play resumes on Saturday in the round-robin tournament dedicated to the memory of St. Johnian Ruby Rutnik, a standout softball player at Antilles School in the early 1990s who lost her life in a car accident while she was a senior at American University in Washington, D.C.
In her memory, two $2,500 college scholarships are awarded annually to girls from St. John. Proceeds from the softball tournament fund the awards.
