In Orrville, softball is part of the July 4 tradition
The Orrville Fire in the Sky softball tournament began with a nine-team field back in its first year. The 14-U tournament has now grown into a 108-team behemoth taking the field starting July 3.
When Paige Summers took over the role of tournament director of the Orrville Fire in the Sky softball tournament, she knew exactly what she was getting into. A dozen or so years ago, Summers was at center stage in what has become about the biggest thing going in girls softball — in Orrville or anywhere else.
“I was actually in this tournament when I was in 14U, and we won the tournament back in the day,” Summers said. “Still an experience I’ll never forget and the most people I ever played in front of.”
Summers went on to graduate from Dalton High School in 2015, then from Ashland University in 2019. Toward the end of her college years, Summers needed an internship, and a former teammate referred her to Joe Horn, the former Fire in the Sky director.
Horn took Summers on as an intern. She stuck around to help here and there in the time since and was a somewhat obvious replacement.
“(I) was happy to take it over once Joe wanted to be done,” Summers said. “I’m also from Wayne County, so that’s helped me stay around so long.”
She understands what the event means to the community, the players and the sport of softball in general.
Billed as “The most fun you’ll ever have in a softball tournament,” the Fire in the Sky has grown into the biggest single age group tourney in the country and continues to grow — though that will not be infinite; they’re running out of space.
Having been not only a participant but a champion, Summers holds her memories carved out in the Fire in the Sky in high regard and holds the tournament in equal standing.
“This tournament is truly one of a kind,” she said. “I played in a lot of tournaments during my career; the excitement around this one is unmatched. With the carnival going on, fireworks after the championship game and all the fans at the games, it’s just a fun tournament to be a part of.
“At most tournaments you are lucky to get more than just parents to come watch the games. This tournament people come from all over just to see the competition. From the time I started playing and through college, I never played in front of as many fans as I did when I was 14.”
With Summers taking over much of the tournament’s logistics, Chris Bishop remains in his seat as chairman, having overseen literally the entire evolution of the event, from a nine-team blip on the radar back in its first year to the 108-team behemoth taking the field next weekend. Pool play will be July 3-5 with bracket play on July 6.
This year will feature 12 fields going virtually nonstop. In addition to diamonds at Orr Park and Orrville Christian Church, other venues will be in Rittman and Smithville. In the past games have been played in Dalton and Kidron, among other places.
“It’s so good for the whole area,” Bishop said, “the economic impact that this brings in for everybody, the hotels. People are booked over in Belden Village, Medina, Wadsworth. These are travel teams. This is what they do every weekend.
“There’s also the restaurants. We’ve had economic impact studies done, and it’s millions of dollars.”
Bishop, as most know, by day is Orrville’s fire chief. For 20 years now — predating the Fire in the Sky — the Orrville firefighters have been staffing the tournament, first when it was a men’s slow-pitch event to the early days of the girls tournament until now.
They work the fields between games, making sure every game is played on a pristine surface, then cap the week’s festivities by making sure the event-ending fireworks display goes off without a hitch.
As always, the fireworks will follow the championship game of the tournament. The first pitch is scheduled for about 8:15 p.m. on July 6, with the fireworks to begin at 10:15 p.m. or so. Those numbers are estimates, and most seem to understand that.
“We can’t stop the championship game,” Bishop said.
Summers said at least six states will be represented in the field this year. In the past teams have come from as far as North Carolina, with a team or two crossing the Canadian border to head to Orrville over the years.
There are plenty of reasons to come. Within an hour or so of Orrville are 1,000 things to do, like Cedar Point, the Rock and Roll and Professional Football Halls of Fame, not to mention things you might see without ever leaving Wayne County.
“They make a vacation out of it,” Bishop said. “Some of them see Amish for the first time. It’s like they didn’t know they were real.”
The draw is the softball, but also the fact that the tournament is an event within an event, with a parade and carnival also being part of the festivities.
“Here’s 14-year-old kids with the carnival,” Bishop said. “That’s the perfect thing. From a marketing standpoint, it just fits right in there.”