Published: July 09, 2009 11:27 pm      

Ricky Bussell Memorial Classic in seventh year

Baseball tournament begins today at Southwestern High School; Bussell to be remembered Saturday

The Bussell BlueSox, a 19-and-under travel-select team of the Ricky Bussell Baseball Club, will host the 7th Annual Ricky Bussell Memorial Classic at Southwestern High School this Friday through Sunday.

Bussell, who died in 2003 as a result of an automobile accident, will be remembered on Saturday at 2:30 with a memorial. Bussell was a sophmore at Southwestern High School at the time of his death and played baseball for the Warriors. Bussell was a 4.0 student and started at third base as a freshman. He was an original member of the Lake Cumberland Merchants, a travel-select team and led the Merchants in pitching wins from 2000-2002.

The coaches and players of the BlueSox will honor the family of Bussell as well as the past Ricky Bussell scholarship winners. The 2009 Ricky Bussell scholarship recipient will be announced. A $500 scholarship is awarded each year to a Southwestern baseball senior with the highest GPA.

The BlueSox will play their first game on Friday at 8 p.m. against the South Kentucky Legends.

On Saturday the BlueSox will play at 12:30 p.m. against the Bluegrass Stars and at 3 p.m. against the Edmonton Post 65 Mustangs.

Six All-County players including Player of the Year, T.T. Wooldridge of Southwestern are members of the 13-12 BlueSox. The other All-County players from Southwestern are Tyler Mayer and Aaron Hampton. Somerset's All-County players are Jeremy Toohey, Scott Spears, Erik Manning and Otie Manning. Other Southwestern players are Ryan Ray and Alex Jones and former Somerset players, Corey Price, Chase Hall and Jordy Molen. Former Wayne Co. Cardinal, Dean Sumpter is a BlueSox.

Wooldridge leads the BlueSox with a .480 batting average as Mayer is hitting .420. Toohey and Ray are at .380 as Molen leads the pitching staff with a 4-0 record. Sumpter is 3-2 as Price, Spears and Hampton each are 2-2.

The BlueSox are coached by Southwestern assistant coach Marty Mayer and Somerset assistant coach Otis Manning. Mayer is in his 10th year as a summer ball coach having coached the Lake Cumberland Merchants, Somerset Post 38 and the Bussell BlueSox.

"At the end of last summer several players wanted to name the team after Ricky," said Mayer. "I talked to Ricky's mom, Cindy Sears about it and she was excited about the name of the team. It seemed so right because Ricky loved summer ball and he knew the importance of playing in the summer to make him a better high school player."

Bussell helped organize the Lake Cumberland Merchants back in 2000 with Mayer and his family, wife Renee and three sons, Trey, Kirby and Tyler.

"We miss him everyday," said Mayer. "He was like a son, brother and best friend to us. He was everybody's best friend and one helluva of a baseball player."