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Tournament director Dick Owens after presenting the championship plaque to Josh Kliner, El Modena baseball coach Wednesday night. (Photo: OC Sports Zone, Tim Burt).
COMMENTARY: Tournament director Dick Owens led the way during a big week of baseball.
It seemed only appropriate that during National Volunteer Month, local volunteers played a big role in making the 2022 Ryan Lemmon Invitational so succesful.
The tournament featured 30 high school baseball teams competing for the championship at the Great Park and Ryan Lemmon Stadium.
Leading the way was Dick Owens, tournament director, who will tell you that every day is a good day for baseball. As Irvine Vice Mayor Anthony Kuo noted on social media, Owens has been volunteering for 30 years, and finding great satisfaction in doing it.
One of Owens’ pride and joys is the baseball tournament, sponsored by the Ryan Lemmon Foundation, run by Guy Lemmon and Owens.
Unlike last year, when COVID-19 put some strict restrictions on the tournament, including attendance, this year the tournament was able to run just like it had before, with some nice crowds enjoying plenty of good baseball in some fantastic weather. Owens said the turnout for the first day on Saturday was the best ever.
It didn’t just happen. Owens knows how to run a tournament and he and his staff of volunteers did it well, again.
But we saw volunteers, like Owens, all around the ball parks last week. They sold tickets, they worked the concession stands, they announced games, they ran scoreboards, all in the spirit of volunteering.
“A big thank you to Dick (Owens) and the Ryan Lemmon Foundation staff for putting on a great tourney,” wrote CdM Coach Kevin McCaffrey on Twitter.
In all, there were 14 games on the final day (Paramount had to cancel its game with Portola due to injuries).
In case you missed it, El Modena defeated Woodbridge 7-1 in the championship game. And when it was over, Owens, assisted by so many capable volunteers, could finally breath a sigh of relief and be proud of what they had accomplished.
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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