Sam Mills gets a side five Saturday morning from Maine Mariners mascot “Beacon the Puffin” as she arrives at first base at Joe Walker Memorial Field in Auburn during the second Maine Strong Memorial Foundation Softball Tournament. Mills plays for the Capsawn team, one of more than 45 teams playing on five fields throughout the Lewiston-Auburn area. The tournament continues throughout the day on Sunday with bracket play. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Some 46 teams, 50 volunteers and a whole lot of spectators spread out over three softball fields between Lewiston and Auburn on Saturday for the Maine Strong Memorial Foundation Softball Tournament.

The two-day event was started in November 2023 to honor victims of the Oct. 25, 2023, mass shooting and to raise money for victims’ families. The event raised some $207,000 in 2023 and aims for $350,000 this year, organizers said ahead of the event.

Auburn’s Tricia Asselin and Joe Walker memorial fields on Pettengill Road and the Ron Morin Memorial fields on Randall Road in Lewiston were crawling with softball players, volunteers and spectators all day Saturday.

Steve Palleschi, coach for team Chris Dowdy State Farm/Pope Cooling and Heating, said the turnout in support at all locations was awesome.

“We’re out here to support a great cause and to raise lots of money,” Palleschi said. “We’re also here to get some competitive energy out and to have a lot of fun.”

The team’s catcher, Kayla Beers, was wrestling with her young son ahead of her team’s last half-inning. Up 14-2 against team Sons of Pitches, Beers said the competitive edge is softened by the camaraderie around the sport and cause.

“I’ve played softball for years, so it’s been just another great support that we do around the sport in support of community,” Beers said.

Maine Strong fundraising and donations chair Chase Cote said the November 2023 event was conceptualized during the week after the Oct. 25 mass shooting as a 6- to 10-team event to raise as much money as possible for victims’ families. The games ended up featuring 25 teams and numerous volunteers.

“We were just looking for ways to help at that point,” Cote said. “This was such a big undertaking this year that now that this is basically year one again with the foundation. Now this frees us up to kind of start doing more stuff.”

Raelynn, sitting at left, and her sister Addyson Camara play in the sand Saturday morning as they wait for their mother’s softball game to start at Joe Walker Memorial Field in Auburn. The game is part of the second Maine Strong Memorial Foundation Softball Tournament. Their mom, Mackenzie Camara, plays on a team called Lash House from New Hampshire. Overall, more than 45 teams were playing on five fields throughout the Lewiston-Auburn area. The tournament continues throughout the day Sunday with bracket play. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Maine Strong Memorial Foundation’s application for a 501(c)(3) status was expedited and granted in about a month’s time in early 2024. The organization’s mission is to use a pool of funds raised at events like the softball tournament to help Maine families who experience unexpected tragedies, Cote said. While other events haven’t yet taken place, the organization is hoping to schedule at least three per year starting in 2025.

“We don’t have anything set in stone,” Cote said. “We’ve tossed around all sorts of ideas, a golf scramble, cornhole … with softball being the big one with the raffle and everything.”

This year, the event being much better organized, drew 46 teams and 50 volunteers, Cote said. Though the tally for raised funds wasn’t available, Cote said donations totaled over $25,000 before the event even started.

Transparent with fundraising from the very start, Maine Strong Memorial Foundation plans to release numbers as soon as possible, but dispersing funds takes time working with the Attorney General’s office “because we want to make sure it goes to the right people.” Cote said this year’s funds will have the same recipients as last year, the 18 families affected by the shootings, with the added recipient, Maine Resiliency Foundation. Maine Strong will also keep some funds to help finance costs for future events.

“We don’t want people to forget what happened because things like this happen so often now,” Cote said. “Our goal is to help more Maine families, and all our funds stay right in the state of Maine. There’s nothing like what we’re doing out there, and we’re just getting started.”

The softball tournament will continue from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday with bracket play. For more information, visit www.mainestrongfoundation.org/.