Monroe, Bedford, Whiteford return to challenge South Rockwood
Welcome back.
Some big names are back at the Monroe County Fair Softball Tournament.
Monroe, Bedford and Whiteford all will return after long absences when the 49th annual event begins Sunday at the Fairgrounds Diamond off S. Raisinville Rd.
Monroe has not participated in the event since winning the championship in 2019.
Jeff Gessner says that a new county league for 12-under teams spurred Monroe’s return to the tournament.
“It was a lot of the coordination with the (Monroe) YMCA to set up a league for the surrounding communities,” said Gessner, Monroe’s coach this year. “It’s more like it was when we were kids. It’s good for the girls.”
Gessner played in the Fair Baseball Tournament in the 1980s.
“We’ve been trying to emphasize how special this tournament is,” he said.
Whiteford last entered a team in 2012.
“It’s been a long time,” said Whiteford coach Mindy Welch.
You have to go all the way back to 2006 to find a Bedford team in the Fair Softball Tournament.
The new teams will be trying to slow down South Rockwood’s recent juggernaut.
Steve Drummond has guided the program to the last two championships.
“We’re looking forward to it,” Drummond said. “We’ve got another good team. We got a lot of families on our team – four sets of sisters and Brooklyn Martin and her dad. She has played five years. I talked to someone at the Fair and they said that ties the record. If it wasn’t for the COVID year, she would have broken the record.”
South Rockwood has an experienced team.
“We have six returners (from last year), including a couple of starters,” Drummond said. “We have a good mix of veterans and new players. It will be interesting to see how it comes out.”
Drummond knows a threepeat won’t be easy with Monroe, Bedford and Whiteford joining the field.
“We look forward to the competition,” he said.
Travis Lusky, who returned Ida to the Fair last year, is back after last year’s runner-up finish.
“We return about half of our team,” he said. “We lost some key components, but we’ve got some good ones back.”
One of the components Ida lost was Welch, who coached with Lusky last summer.
“I was just hired at Whiteford and my kids are going to school there,” she said. “My daughter (Avery) was going to play for Ida, but we thought this would be a good way for her to meet girls at Whiteford.”
Welch is looking forward to a possible matchup with Ida.
“We’re good friends,” she said of her and Lusky. “It will be a good rivalry.”
The first game of the tournament will be very interesting. Monroe takes on South Rockwood in a 10 a.m. game Sunday.
“That will be exciting,” Gessner said. “If you’re going to make a run. You have to beat the best.”
Gessner believes his team is capable of making a run.
“I think the girls will do well,” he said. “We’re young and have some inexperience. It will be interesting to see how they react to this level of competition.”
Bedford battles Ida in the second game at 11:45 a.m., then Whiteford takes on the South Rockwood-Monroe winner at 1:30 p.m.
The opening day concludes with Summerfield squaring off with Frenchtown at 3:15.
The finals are slated for Thursday, then the 63rd annual Fair Baseball Tournament begins Saturday.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Monroe, Bedford, Whiteford return to challenge South Rockwood
