A “bracket bash” party is to be held Friday evening from 6 to 9 at the Clubhouse in Wainscott to work out a schedule for the double-elimination Travis Field memorial coed softball tournament that will be contested by 17 teams and is to begin Thursday afternoon at the Terry King ball field in Amagansett.
A popular event here, the tournament, played in memory of Travis Field, who died in a motor vehicle accident in Wading River on May 15, 2008, at the age of 20, raises money to underwrite $1,000 scholarships given out annually in his name to East Hampton High School seniors athletes. This year’s recipients – the most ever – are Eric Armijos, Finn Byrnes, Jack Dickinson, Hunter Eberhart, Danny Lester, Gaby Miller, Daniel Rossano, and Emma Terry. Recipients must “display great leadership in sports, love their school and community, and show kindness to others.”
The Pink Panthers, a team whose lineup has sported a number of the late Travis Field’s friends – Brian Anderson, Andy Tuthill, Mike Graham, Austin Bahns, and David Samot Jr. among them – has won more trophies (five) than any other entry over the years, though the Bad News Bubs dethroned the Panthers, who had won four in a row, in 2021. The Bubs, with Doug Dickson, Vinny Alversa, Mike and Andrew Rodriguez, and Tucker Genovesi leading the way, repeated last year, coming out of the losers bracket to win it, as they also did in 2021. The Bud Heavies topped the B bracket.
This year’s tournament, as was the case last year, is expected to be contested by 300 or so players. Thirty or so games are to be played from Thursday through Sunday, Aug. 6. Last year’s final, between the Bubs and Hampton Glass, didn’t end until 10:15 p.m. on the final day.
