APT Wins Cishek Wiffle Ball Tournament

No one cared that he was Steve Cishek, multi-millionaire relief pitcher for the Seattle Mariners. Sure, there were a couple of youngsters asking for his autograph, but most of the 150 or so people inside the Robert V. Antonucci Field House on Sunday morning saw him one of two ways. He was either a guy on another team, who had to be struck out, or just Stevie, the same guy that they’d been playing sports with forever.

Cishek, who signed a two-year contract last week with Seattle that will earn him $4 million this coming season and $6 million the next one, was certainly in his element. For the day he was just a six-foot, six-inch 12-year-old again, trying to take his friends over the wall for a home run in the first Steve Cishek Winter Wiffleball Classic.

The event was Cishek’s way to give back to the town that helped him get to his current station in life. Originally he had hoped to host a golf tournament, but with his schedule not lining up conveniently with the golf season on Cape Cod, he came up with the idea to hold a wiffleball tournament. Just two weeks ago he had his fingers crossed that it would be well received, and make a little money for two of his favorite groups, the Falmouth High Baseball Boosters and Falmouth Youth Baseball. After Sunday’s turnout, plans were already being considered for year two.

“This is awesome. I can’t believe the support that we got. People really stepped up and made this a success, and I’m so thankful,” he said while handing out trophies to the champions from Advance Performance Training, who edged Huge Ichiro Fans for the inaugural title.

Cishek played on a team with his childhood friends from Falmouth. Craig Sullivan, Ove Asendorf, Chris Massi and Dave Kent all played on Team New Balance with their friend.

A few weeks before Christmas just seven teams had officially entered the field of teams for the tournament. A late rush brought the total to 22 squads that played in the double-elimination tournament. It took nearly seven hours to crown a champion but in the end APT, which included owner and FHS assistant hockey coach Pete Tormey, his brothers, and some of his staff, finished off an undefeated run through the bracket. They won all six of their games.

Tormey also helped organize the event, as did Cishek’s childhood friend Chris Fitzgerald, who captained his own team. Fitzgerald said that he couldn’t wait to play in the tournament and he had his reasons for not playing on the same team as Cishek. “I want to beat him,” he said with a laugh. “That’s more fun.”

And Fitzgerald got his wish. The two teams met in the second round of the tournament, and sent Cishek’s Team New Balance to the loser’s bracket. Team NB made a nice run from there but fell short in the end. “We got robbed,” Cishek said.

While he might have felt “robbed” of a win, the day’s event raised plenty for the charities. Over $4,000 was raised through donations and entry fees, with another $1,240 added to the total through a silent auction. A signed Miami Marlins jersey from Cishek’s time there was the biggest ticket item in the auction, fetching $400.