Softball tournament seeks to strike out cancer, strike down stereotypes
On a hot July Saturday, in this small north Jackson County town, every hit, run and strikeout took on a special meaning. Players fulfilled their passion for the game of softball while providing needed help for a fellow resident.
The inaugural Marjorie Williams Strike Out Cancer benefit tournament at Roy Crane Fields brought together diverse groups of residents. For Williams, a Drug Court graduate whose breast cancer has returned though she defeated it a decade ago, it didn’t matter if most of the people were police officers and county court judges and counselors. She still got “a little help from her friends.”
“It’s overwhelming,” she said, fighting back tears as she watched six teams representing participants from three drug courts, the Pascagoula Police Department and Jackson County Sheriff’s Office slug it out in a double-elimination tournament. “It’s great for the law enforcement and drug court (participants) to be out here together for me. I mean I’ve been on both sides. It’s absolutely a blessing.”
“We’re all agape. It’s just marvelous,” said Circuit Judge Dale Harkey, amazed that a challenge from Pascagoula police Detective Michael Dunn for police teams and Drug Court teams to play against each other resulted in the benefit tournament. Harkey fielded a team along with fellow Drug Court Judges Robert Krebs and Kathy Jackson.
“We have cops playing Drug Court (participants); they used to be chasing them,” Harkey said. “Now we’re all out here together for a good cause.”
Business owners also chipped in so the proceeds from the tournament could help defray some of Williams’ medical expenses. Mandal Automotive Group of D’Iberville provided the team shirts for the tournament, and Real Custom Shirts of Ocean Springs provided the cheerleading shirts. Organizers sold raffle tickets and bounce houses captivated the kids.
Stillwater’s Transitional Housing of Pascagoula was another contributor, well-known for helping Drug Court graduates to be successful in the next phase of their lives.
“The hardest part is when they get out,” said director Ricky Charlton, a licensed alcohol and drug counselor. “They usually need a lot of help. If they don’t have a place to go, we’ll facilitate and help them; whether it’s helping them get a job, furthering their education or paying their fines. If they have children, we help start them on a path where they can visit their kids and eventually get them back. We try to help them with whatever they need and have a safe place to live.”
Chris McCarty, 30, a Drug Court participant, played on Krebs’ team.
“I’ve made a lot of bad decisions in my life, but then again, I think there have been lessons to be learned to be something better,” McCarty said. “I’m not too familiar with Ms. Williams, but doing something positive is like doing something for the community and to put a smile on her face makes it all worthwhile. This inspires me to really look at my life and my future and what I want to do with it. I want to do something more positive and better my life at the same time.”
The unity brought about by the softball tournament has also revealed more positive and personal sides between all of the groups, thus potentially breaking down social barriers.
“It sheds a whole new light. You look at Drug Court people and think of them strictly as addicts and problems,” Williams said. “They’re not. These are just regular people who need help.”
“It’s important for my people to get outside of their own heads,” Harkey said. “When you’re in your own head, all kinds of things can go sideways on you. But when you’re out doing something good for somebody else for the right reasons, the feeling of accomplishment, you can’t beat it.”
This story was originally published July 23, 2016 at 5:57 PM with the headline "Softball tournament seeks to strike out cancer, strike down stereotypes."