Tri-C Softball to participate in "Games for the Cure"

September 23, 2016

The Cuyahoga Community College softball program has partnered with the Akron Racers to revive “Games for the Cure,” a fall softball tournament and charity fundraiser rolled into one.

“Games for the Cure” is an eight-team intercollegiate tournament opening today and continuing through Sunday. The action includes 11 games at historic Firestone Stadium – the home field of the Racers -- with additional games played at adjacent Pony Field.

Proceeds from the tournament will benefit Akron General’s “Muffins for Mammograms” program, which provides mammography assistance to qualified area women who lack health insurance.

Tri-C head softball coach Bryan Komlos said the College will contribute a minimum of $600, but the total money raised by the Tri-C softball team’s participation in the tournament will go above and beyond that.

“The proceeds from the gate go to the mammogram program as well, and we’re expecting to get a contingent of at least 100 people out there this weekend to watch,” he says. “Every school has a traveling contingent, so we could have 500 or more purchasing tickets over the course of the weekend.”

Komlos worked with Racers General Manager Joey Arrietta to help spearhead the revival of the charity tournament, which has never before seen participation from junior college and community college teams.

“This tournament hasn’t happened for quite a few years, and never with junior college teams,” Komlos said. “I give a lot of credit to the Racers and Joey Arrietta for helping make this a reality. This is something we could have done by ourselves at the College, but having a professional softball team involved helps get the word out even more throughout the local softball community.”

In addition to Tri-C, the tournament will feature teams from Walsh University and Malone University in the Canton area, Macomb Community College in suburban Detroit, Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek, Mich., Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Jackson College in Jackson, Mich. and Patrick Henry Community College in central Virginia.

“We have teams coming from all over, and it’s great to see so many schools from such a large area who are interested in supporting this,” Komlos said. “It’s a chance for our team to play some games against good competition in the fall, all the while raising money for a great cause.”