Shane Warfel Memorial Softball Tourney being held Saturday.
Inaugural softball tourney set in Linfield
Shane Warfel may be gone, but his many friends want his legacy and memory to carry on because of the quality person he was.
Warfel died on Jan. 22, 2014 from injuries suffered in an au- tomobile accident in Upper Providence Township. The former Spring-Ford High School football quarterback, wrestler and baseball player was only 27 years old at the time of his unfortunate death.
Warfel, who graduated with the Class of 2006, will be remembered with the First Annual Shane Fest Softball Tournament Saturday and Sunday, April 11-12, at the Tom Schadt Linfield Complex.
Tournament director Keith Gerhard, a former teammate with the Class of 2004, said a maximum of 16 teams have signed up for the tournament, which had an entrance fee of $200 with a three-game guarantee. Pool play will start the tourney, followed by an elimination bracket.
Proceeds will go toward a scholarship fund that has been established in Shane’s memory at Spring-Ford High School. Phoenixville Federal Bank & Trust has set up the scholarship, and the recipient will be determined on the basis of a student-athlete who shares qualities that Shane had. Gerhard said some people have come forward with some nice items, such as Phillies tickets, that will also be raffled off.
Gerhard said members of the Warfel family will be on hand for a short check presentation ceremony between 1-2 p.m. at the field.
Warfel, who lived in Royersford, played football under former head coach Gary Rhodenbaugh at
Warfel, who graduated with the Class of 2006, will be remembered with the First Annual Shane Fest Softball Tournament Saturday and Sunday, April 11-12, at the Tom Schadt Linfield Complex.
Spring-Ford. Rhodenbaugh guided the Rams for seven years from 2003-2009.
Warfel’s name is in the Spring-Ford football record books. He ranks sixth in career passing yardage at the school with 2,395 yards. He completed 108 of 292 aerials for a 37 percent completion rate. Warfel totaled 30 career touchdown passes and had a quarterback rating of 102.3. Warfel also rushed for 466 yards during his three-year varsity career. He wore uniform number 1 and served as a co-captain during his football senior year along with Mike McGrory, Chris Pettine and Scott Kodish.
The Rams closed with a 6-5 record that season, scoring 185 points while allowing 137 points. Shane also received the special Tall Cedars of Lebanon Lodge Award with the Class of 2004.
Shane, whose nick-
name was “Shooka,” was the son of Stephen and Wendy (Hefelfinger) Warfel. He had two brothers, Kyle and Joshua. Gerhard said Joshua is expected to throw out the ceremonial first pitch to begin the tournament.
Shane worked at CVS Pharmacy in Royersford as a store manager as well as at Total Facility in West Chester. He continued to play sports in adult leagues after his graduation from high school.
“He (Warfel) was my best friend,” said Gerhard. “He threw me a pass for a touchdown during his sophomore year in 2004. He was such a good kid, and I was the quarterback before he was. I took him under my wing for football, softball, family vacations and golf trips. He was in my wedding.”
Registration is slated to take place at 8 a.m. Saturday with hourlong games scheduled to start between 9 a.m. and 9:15 a.m. The games are
scheduled for seven innings each, but in order to keep the tourney moving, there will also be a 20-run rule after three innings, 15-run rule after four and 10-run rule after five for the team that is ahead at that time to end those particular contests.
The ASA-sanctioned tourney will have tiebreakers of first, headto-head competition, and thenww fewest runs allowed, most runs scored and a coin toss. The highest seeded team will determine the home team in Advanced Play. Bracket winners and runners-up will advance to the Upper Division elimination rounds while the others will go to the Lower Division.
Even though he was not around for Shane’s career at Spring-Ford, current Rams head football coach Chad Brubaker has been a part of the project to honor Shane’s memory. Brubaker gathered career statistics on Warfel and put together a highlight film on him as well.