Talk of golf (and baseball) at Steve Blass tournament

SOUTH EGREMONT Mass. — It was a beautiful day for golf on Monday, Sept. 8, at the ninth annual Steve Blass Golf Tournament held at the Egremont Country Club in South Egremont, Mass.

The tournament, which benefits the Region One Athletic Fund (ROAF), featured 32 teams of four in a scramble-style format and raised roughly $15,000.

Steve Gomez, Pete Foley, Gene Lachaine and Jason Marshall took home the victory for the second year in a row with an overall score of 56 (-16). Twenty-six of the 32 teams in total shot under par (72) on the afternoon. A hole-in-one contest, as well as the longest drive and closest to the pin contests, were also held.

The tournament is hosted each year by Blass, a native of North Canaan who graduated from Housatonic Valley Regional High School in 1960 and shortly after signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Blass pitched for the Pirates in 1964 and 1966 to 1974, finishing with a record of 106-76, 1,598 innings pitched and a 3.63 earned run average (ERA).

Blass is most famous for his performance during the 1971 World Series versus the highly favored Baltimore Orioles, in which he led the Pirates to a World Championship, pitching two complete games in Game 3 and Game 7, giving up a total of seven hits with a 1.00 ERA over the two games. Blass still holds the record for the last National League pitcher to throw a complete game in Game 7 of the World Series.

Following the afternoon of golf, participants enjoyed a buffet dinner along with anecdotes from Blass about his career and opinions on baseball topics, such as instant replay and the debate over whether Pete Rose should be inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Raffle prizes were also awarded featuring a signed Mario Lemieux Penguins jersey, a signed James Shields Tampa Bay Rays jersey, signed baseballs from Major League players such as Andrew McCutcheon, Max Scherzer, Adam Wainwright, Troy Tulowitzki and others, a signed Ben Roethlisberger football and several golf clubs, polo shirts and other apparel.

The ROAF was founded in 2005 as an endowment for the Berkshire Taconic Foundation and is overseen by an advisory committee of community members. The fund is “dedicated to enriching the physical and athletic experience of the students in the Region One school district.” 

The ROAF provides grants to students enrolled in Region One schools, as well as athletic programs in the area for such things as special coaching, summer training/camps, programs, transportation to competitions or training programs, coach training, equipment/uniform purchases and facility improvements. In its 10th year, the fund has awarded more than $20,000 in grants to students and teams in the area.