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Sports

Tinley Park Softball Tournament's a 'Last Hurrah' for One Slugger

Tinley Park Bulldogs travel coach Juan Rodriguez said he's hanging up his cleats after participating in Saturday's double-elimination event played at four Tinley park district fields.

With eight softball teams playing a total of 16 games over the course of one day, Tinley Park Park District athletic supervisor Mike Hayes had himself a busy day Saturday. Hayes shuffled from one field to the next as he helped conduct the adult, 12-inch double-elimination tournament.

“We run three tournaments like this a year,” Hayes explained. “Along with the summer tournament, we do a Boo Bash around Halloween and a Snowball Tournament in the winter. Last year our Snowball Tournament was played right after the blizzard. The teams had a blast playing in the four feet of snow.”

While members of the grounds crew didn’t need to dust off their snow shovels for this August event, Hayes and his crew had to ready four different fields — Freedom Park, McCarthy Park, Kiwanis Park and Veterans Park — in order for the games to be completed in a single day. While the one-day tournaments are separate from park district league play, they often act as a bridge from one season to the next, as many of the competitors play in the park district’s summer and fall leagues.

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Tinley Park native Juan Rodriguez, who has played softball recreationally for more than 25 years, thought the tournament was run very well. Rodriguez, 43, grew up playing 16-inch softball in the Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago, but he switched to 12-inch when he moved to Tinley Park 10 years ago.

“This is by far the most fun thing I do socially,” Rodriguez said. “I’m out here with a bunch of great guys, having fun and winning. It’s just a great atmosphere.”

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For Rodriguez, baseball and softball have become a family matter. His son Charlie was on hand Saturday to cheer on his dad and the team. The pair had just gotten back from a trip to Cooperstown, N.Y., with the Tinley Park Bulldogs travel team.  

“I coach his team with the Bulldogs, and he comes out here and critiques my play,” Rodriguez joked. “It’s a fun thing we have going on. His team played great in New York, and it was really nice for us to see the history of the sport at the baseball Hall of Fame.”

But now, Rodriguez says he’s ready to hang up his cleats and focus on helping coach his son. Rodriguez said this will be the last tournament he competes in.

“I’m getting older, and my son is at the age where the level of competition increases,” he said. “I want to give him all my time.” 

If this tournament does turn out to be Rodriguez’s curtain call, he was going out on a high note. The team he helped assemble was unbeaten on the day, winning every game by slaughter rule. 

“The guys (on my team) came out for my last hurrah. I love playing with them, but this is it for me,” Rodriguez said.

With a championship in his sights, Rodriguez was ending a quarter-century career in storybook fashion.

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