Saturday marked the second annual Turning Points Strike Out Domestic Violence Softball Tournament in Kemmerer, highlighted by gorgeous weather, a small but dedicated number of teams and money raised for an important cause.

The co-ed tournament featured just three teams, but raised $6,000 for The Turning Point, an agency in Lincoln County that provides services to any victim of family violence, sexual assault, incest and child abuse, including short-term crisis intervention, support, advocacy, shelter and referrer, according to the agency’s website.

“The tournament went really well,” said Bobbi Orcutt, executive director of The Turning Point. “We raised $6,000, with three teams participating this year — Exxon Mobile, The Williams Companies and Academy Mortgage. Exxon won the championship.”

Sponsors accounted for much of the money raised, along with team entry fees and home run bracelets, which — when purchased — allowed teams 10 home runs per game.

“We had quite a few sponsors for the tournament — there were different levels of sponsorships, and we hung banners up around the field for our sponsors,” Orcutt said. “Each team paid to play, and — since we were playing on a Little League field — we offered home run wristbands, so we raised a lot of money that way, as well. If players were to hit a home run and they didn’t have a wristband, it would be an out. It made things a little more competitive that way. Plus, we had raffle items, walking tacos, things like that.”

Despite just three teams participating, a sizable crowd turned out to support the teams, and the cause. That said, Orcutt hopes that the event will continue to grow as more softball players and fans from the community and the surrounding area become aware of the event.

“We had a pretty decent crowd,” Orcutt said. “I still wish we would get more community support, but it’s only our second year. Hopefully next year, we can get some more support from the community, get some more teams going.”

Orcutt said the genesis of the tournament was the result of a fundraising brainstorming session, coupled with wanting to find something unique to the community.

“I was looking for creative ways to bring in fundraising, and no one around here does softball tournaments,” Orcutt explained. “It’s just not a thing here. I was just looking for something new, and we decided to see how a softball tournament would go. The first year went pretty good, and this year went pretty good, so we’ll probably continue it next year.”

Each team paid a $320 entry fee, and the home run bracelets at $40 per game were also hot sellers.

“The home run wristbands were $40 a game,” Orcutt said. “That was up from last year, because the feedback I got from teams last year was to raise the price for the home run wristbands, so I did. If a team purchased the wristbands, they get 10 home runs — any home run after that is an out.”

Feedback for the tournment was overwhelmingly positive, with the only gripe being a good-natured bemoaning of the number of teams participating.

“We had great feedback from the teams that participated,” Orcutt said. “Obviously, they wish more people would be involved from the community — it’s just a matter of getting the word out there. But everybody who played and came to watch loved the event. Who doesn’t love spending all day at the baseball field?”

All the funds raised will go directly to The Turning Point, making it a very successful weekend.

“The Turning Point is a domestic violence shelter — we help victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, child abuse, elderly abuse,” Orcutt explained. “You name it, we help with it. The funds raised go to helping victims — we have two shelters — one in Kemmerer, and one in Afton — so it takes a lot of money to keep them going. We have four bedrooms in each shelter, and we can get up to a family of five in each bedroom. The money raised will help tremendously.”