Friends come together
to raise money for
Ryan Duffy College Fund
BY JENNIFER DOME
Staff Writer
BRICK — A group of softball players have come together to support the family of a friend.
A softball tournament to benefit the Ryan Duffy College Fund will be held Oct. 9, starting at 9 a.m., at the Drum Point Sports Complex off Brick Boulevard.
Ryan is the 10-month-old son of Christopher M. Duffy, 26, who was killed while he was on duty with the Army National Guard in Iraq. Duffy was serving with Battery B, 3rd Battalion, of the 112th Field Artillery, which is headquartered in Lawrenceville, when he was killed in June.
Duffy, a graduate of Brick Township High School, was an active member of the community. He volunteered his time to Brick Township Senior Services programs, the Brick Municipal Alliance Committee on Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Youth Services (B-MAC) and basketball activities with the local Christian Youth Organization.
Vicky Leone, who played softball with Duffy on a co-ed team, said many of his friends and teammates wanted to do something for Ryan and his mother, Casey. The friends decided to create a softball team of their own and their first action was to hold a softball tournament on Ryan’s behalf.
“It’s a way to make money, have fun and do something that Chris liked,” Leone said.
The softball team consists of 12 people — six males and six females, including Duffy’s wife.
Danny Waska, a friend of Duffy’s and an employee of B-MAC, came up with the idea of the tournament, Leone said. All the teams interested in playing will play until they lose two games. The final winning team will play the softball team from WRAT-FM and receive T-shirts and a tournament trophy.
Leone said if people do not want to play, they are welcome to come watch and encouraged to make a donation. She said she has already received a $100 donation from the Brick Elks Lodge.
“We want as many people there [as possible] to support the family,” Leone said.
All teams are responsible for a $100 donation — 100 percent of which will go toward the college fund and umpire fees.
The rain date for the tournament is Oct. 16.
To register a softball team, or for more information about the college fund, contact Vicky Leone at (732) 477-4706 or Danny Waska at (732) 262-1074.
In a statement that Leone wrote about the softball tournament, she said, “Christopher Duffy was an amazing person. He did amazing things and he will never know the most extraordinary of them all. Christopher united a town. He made us all come together, be proud that we were from Brick.”