Area firefighters and village employees competed Sunday in a charity softball tournament in Hinsdale, with the team from the Hinsdale Public Services Department winning the championship.
Firefighters from Clarendon Hills, La Grange Park, the Pleasantview Fire Protection District, Western Springs and Westmont played in Big’s Sixth Annual Bare Knuckle Softball Tournament in Veeck Park, along with staff from the Hinsdale Police Department and village administration.
It was the first year Hinsdale’s administration fielded a team, said Steve Tullis, a Hinsdale firefighter. The team did not receive a very warm welcome, however.
The Hinsdale firefighters defeated them 12-0 in the first game of the tournament, which started at 9 a.m., Tullis said.
The Hinsdale public service workers were victorious through three rounds and faced the La Grange Park firefighters in the final game, which they won by one run in extra innings at about 6 p.m.
La Grange Park was the defending champion, but Hinsdale’s Public Services Department had won the tournament in four of the last six years, Tullis said.
“The public works team played four extremely tough games,” Tullis said. The team’s pitcher, Don Miller, was a standout, he said.
“He was always on base.”
The tournament was started to honor Mark Johnson, known to his friends as Big, a former Hinsdale deputy fire chief who died in 2010. The winning team gets a fancy fire helmet to display as a trophy in its fire station.
“It’s a great event,” said La Grange Park Fire Chief Dean Maggos, who played second base. “We really appreciate being part of it.”
Johnson also had worked as a part-time firefighter in La Grange Park for years, Maggos said.
The event includes raffles with prize, such as gift certificates to area restaurants and businesses, and tickets to Chicago sports teams.
Tullis estimated Sunday’s game raised about $8,500 for Camp I Am Me for children with burn injuries, Hinsdale’s Safety Village, where children learn traffic safety and other safety precautions, and HCS Family Services in Hinsdale, which operates a food pantry, a parent-mentor program and other services for families in need in DuPage County.
Not including Sunday’s donations, the softball tournament has raised more than $65,000 over the past five years, Tullis said.
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