Record crowd for Pohl memorial tournament in Palatine

A travel baseball tournament in Palatine drew some big name celebrities for its trophy presentation Sunday.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and Palatine Mayor Jim Schwantz both were on hand to congratulate the 11- and 12-year old players, as well as the high school scholarship winners, awarded in memory of Casey Pohl, who succumbed to cancer in 2003.

The 7th annual Casey Pohl Memorial Baseball Tournament took place on eight fields in Palatine this weekend, including opening ceremonies Thursday at Fuller Field, where there's a plaque dedicated to the former youth and Fremd High School player.

Sunday's finals took place on four fields at Hamilton Field in Palatine, where the Wasco Wildcats defeated Palatine Young Gunz to win the 11-year old division, while the Glenview Blaze defeated the Lockport Cobras for the 12-year old title.

"Casey loved to play baseball," said his mother, Debbie. "This means so much to see so many kids participating and keeping his memory alive."

This year's tournament drew a record 36 teams, or nearly 550 players. Teams came from Palatine, Arlington Heights, Barrington, Buffalo Grove, Mount Prospect, Elk Grove, Bartlett, Lake in the Hills, Huntley, Lake Zurich, Carol Stream, Aurora, Oak Brook and Winfield, among other suburbs.

"The quality of competition here is excellent," said Jordan Lamm, tournament director and vice president of Palatine Travel Baseball. "Teams know it's a great tournament and for a great cause."

Since the tournament's inception, members of the Pohl family have awarded college scholarships to area baseball players. In the early years, they awarded two in the amount of $2,500 each year, but more recently have cut back to offer one.

At Sunday's awards presentation, they announced they had given more than $85,000 in scholarships so far.

Brendan Dailey, a Palatine High School graduate who won the scholarship in 2005, now serves as an intern in Gov. Quinn's office. When he told Quinn about the memorial tournament, named for a local resident who died of cancer at the age of 20, they were able to fit it into the day's schedule.

"We were in the neighborhood, with Harper's graduation," Quinn said. "We wanted to be in solidarity with the family."

This year's Casey Pohl Scholarship winner is Tom Galvin, a pitcher for Palatine High School's baseball team who is headed to the University of Illinois.

"When I read about how him and the scholarship, and how much he loved playing baseball, I thought it was perfect," Galvin said.

Matt Meagher, one of the first scholarship recipients, is now headed to the University of Notre Dame to pursue a doctorate in bioengineering. He hopes to look at ways to enhance diagnostic technologies in cancer treatments.

"I've known lots of people who have dealt with different diseases," Meagher said, "but of course I thought of Casey."