11th Annual Andy Shaw Memorial Softball Tourney

After a rough, dirty and hot weekend at the ball fields The Zone, a team out of Scottsbluff came out on top, with Dripping Gold from Scottsbluff finishing in second place and Autolok, one of our home teams out of Kimball, holding up third.

The Cockriders, a team out of Cheyenne, took home the Sportmanship award this year, they came to play and be competitive, but yet it was all for a good time and to help with a great cause.

"I don't think I laughed as much anywhere else than doing books during your games," said event organizer Kevin Wynne.

A couple days filled with sweat, tears, dirt, blood and fun didn't stop the ball players at this years 11th Annual Andy Shaw Memorial softball tournament. Play started bright and early Saturday morning at 9a.m. and rolled on until about 9 o'clock that evening, more tournament action headed up first thing Sunday morning and continued on with the championship game between The Zone and Dripping Gold getting over a little after 5 p.m.

10 teams competed in this years tournament, only four of them were out of Kimball's Friday night Co-ed League.That included Autolok, Engstrom Farms, Good Wood, and Rowley Enterprise. The other six teams were comprised of Cheyenne teams, as well as teams from the Scottsbluff area and one Kimball team that does not participate in Friday night league.

After more than a decade this event is still going strong.

In the fall of 2006 Andy Shaw lost his very courageous battle with cancer. His loving family and friends started the Andy Shaw Memorial Tournament to support those fighting cancer and their families. All proceeds continue to go to local residents that are battling cancer.

According to Patty Shaw, Andy's mom, many of the players who participate at this point did not know Andy, they are just looking for a fun weekend playing against unknown teams.

Competition often runs high, but at the end of the day the fun Andy Shaw Memorial Tournament continues to draw teams from outlying cities and continues to helps a great cause.

With increased popularity of the tournament and an increasing number of traveling teams, have local teams talking. But the cause behind the competition continues to attract players.

According to Andy's brother Cory Shaw he thought the tournament was a great success. "I think it turned out good, and the out-of-town teams really seem to enjoy the tournament, if it wasn't for them we wouldn't have it."

For those unable to make it to this year's event, mark your calendars for next year, come to Kimball and have a fun weekend for a great cause!