Article on Grafton tournament

Bradford Classic crown taken by Force
JEFF GARD, Northumberland Today

GRAFTON -- Every June, fastball players and umpires come together to honour the memory of the late Jim Bradford.

Bradford, who was from Baltimore, was the only nationally recognized Level 5 umpire in both fast-pitch and slopitch when he died in 2001. He was one of the most respected umpires, not only in this area, but in the entire country.

In 2003, Bradford was inducted into Softball Canada's Hall of Fame. Also, Softball Ontario annually hands out the Jim Bradford Memorial Award for fast-pitch and slo-pitch umpires who emulate the qualities and characteristics of Bradford.

"This guy was a gentleman," umpire Serge Laflamme said between games at the 19th Jim Bradford Classic (a tournament renamed following his death) in Grafton this past weekend. "I worked with him many years as an umpire."

Laflamme, who has traveled from Quebec to work the Classic for the past few years, noted Bradford was his first supervisor when he umpired at the Canadian fast-pitch championship in 1985.

"At that time, I didn't speak a word of English," Laflamme recalled. "He spoke slowly to give me the confidence to learn the language.

"His personality was great, he was approachable," added Laflamme, who worked the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. "(Jim) was a great team guy, always ready to help."

Laflamme enjoys coming to Ontario and the Jim Bradford Classic is a highlight of his summer umpiring schedule.

"I just like the attitude of the umpires; all working together, no competition between umpires," he said. "I'm sure Jim contributed to that kind of fraternity we have here because of his personality."

Seventeen men's teams competed in this year's Classic. There were supposed to be 18, but Hamilton didn't show up. Still, it was the biggest group organizer Steve Bedard has had on the men's side.

"It was a shock, really," Bedard said. "Never in my wildest dreams."

Unfortunately, however, there was no women's division this year. Interest from potential teams evolved too late.

"I would've had nine women's teams if I had known earlier," Bedard said.

Sunday's championship game was a fitting finale for the Classic showdown as the Cobourg Force, with plenty of local flavour, emerged victorious 2-1 over Ottawa Team Easton.

With the game still scoreless in the fifth inning, Craig Minifie belted a two-out solo home run to left-centre field to give Cobourg the first lead.

Cobourg went up 2-0 in the sixth inning when Rob Doncaster scored what turned out to be a important, and game-deciding, run. He doubled before advancing to third on a wild pitch and later scoring when the Ottawa catcher made a throwing error to third base in an effort to pick off Doncaster.

Ottawa got one run back in the sixth, but left two runners stranded on base and couldn't muster any offence in its final at-bat in the seventh.

Doncaster later said that the feeling on the Force bench was that the game would be decided "either by a mistake or a home run."

Turned out that both a mistake and a home run led Cobourg to victory.

"I just didn't think it would be me (scoring the winning run)," Doncaster remarked.
While Doncaster, who also plays in the Cobourg Men's Softball League, doesn't travel to weekend tournaments as much as he used to, he does still enjoy local tournaments.

Like many other players, the Classic has special meaning for him as he gets to play for the former umpire.

"Jim Bradford was a great guy, great umpire," Doncaster said.

A member of Ottawa Team Easton, Scott Herriott, who is from Gore's Landing, always enjoys coming home for the Classic. His parents, Paul and Deb, and brother, Mike, attended all weekend to watch him play.

"They like to see what (Team Easton) is doing," he said.

Herriott has lived in Ottawa since the early 1990s, though it's a thrill to "come back and see guys I haven't seen in years," he said. "This is a really good tournament. Steve has done a really good job."

That's the reason many of the teams come to compete. Other competitors were the Napanee juniors, Picton, Oshawa juniors, CPI/ADS, Newmarket juniors, Oshawa intermediates, Stouffville, Waterdown, Donnacona from Quebec, Team Ontario juniors, Fitzroy Harbour, Maccabbi from North York, Pickering, Team Quebec and the New York Bombers.

Team Ontario, which will compete at the 2009 North American under-19 championship in Charlottetown, PEI in July, includes Cobourg's Travis Gibson as well as Scott Tuttle, who is a part of the coaching staff.

Gibson found out last month that he had been selected for team after having attended several selection camps.

"It's a great honour because these are guys I've played against for the last 10 years," Gibson said of his new teammates.

While he's a pitcher on other teams he plays for, Gibson doesn't pitch on Team Ontario. Instead, he's a utility player. He keeps it all in perspective.

"You accept the role they give you," he said. "I just want to become a better ball player and make friends that, hopefully, I'll keep for the rest of my life."

This past weekend's tournament in Grafton was a good tune-up for the provincial junior squad before they leave for PEI on July 5.

"It was great having such a wide variety of areas represented," Gibson said. "It was great to play against this calibre and still win two games. This is supposed to be one of the best tournaments. It's a good challenge for us to get ready for PEI."

Tuttle also noted that it was important for the squad to meet in Grafton.

"You bring a group of top athletes together and now they have to perform as a team," he said. "We had an excellent idea of what they were like. Some kids play better under pressure."

Added Tuttle, "it was an opportunity for us (as coaches) to get the kinks out, too. It's a learning curve for everybody."

Tuttle was pleased to see Gibson added to the Ontario squad.

"Travis is an excellent ball player," the coach said. "He knows the game and is a very versatile player."

With another successful Jim Bradford Classic in the books, Bedard would like to thank his scorekeepers and announcers -- Layton Dodge, Rosey Bateman, Sylvia Henry, Jean Calder and Richard Cole -- as well as restaurant sponsors -- the Bullpen in Grafton and Casey's Bar & Grill in Cobourg -- and Dave Harnden for looking after the four ball diamonds.

"Without those people, this ain't going," Bedard said.