Andy Close
WARREN, Pa. – The Terry F. Ristau Memorial Industrial Slow Pitch Softball Tournament has been described as a ‘county-wide company picnic.’ 
This weekend at Betts Park the tournament returned for its 41st edition after a condensed version last year due to COVID-19.
And it may not have had the same number of teams its had in previous years, but it was still a home run.
“It was a great weekend,” said John Papalia of the Warren County Chamber of Business and Industry. “Numbers were down a little bit this year, which we expected as we move out of the pandemic. Still a lot of fun, Betts Park is obviously a wonderful venue and fortunately, we were able to raise some money for a great cause, the United Fund of Warren County, which is wonderful, keeping all the money here in Warren County.”
There was a steady stream of music coming from the WCCBI truck all weekend, a bounce house courtesy of the YMCA, and oh yeah, a lot of softball.
Included in that was a game that didn’t end until almost 1 a.m. Saturday night into Sunday morning, which saw Blue Collar Outdoors win the Co-Ed Open Crown.
And the weather cooperated as well.
“All-in-all a great weekend,” Papalia said. “Thankfully I’m lucky to have a ton of great volunteers that help out with the fields, a whole crew of umpires. There’s a crew that helps with the bracket. It’s always great when you have people around you to help make things happen.”
