Yesterday at McCormick Woods Golf Course,
16 Tacoma Rainiers players and coaches traded in their lumber and leather for
drivers and nine irons in the annual Rainiers Golf Tournament, with proceeds
benefiting Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital.

Along with the Tacoma coaching staff–manager
Daren Brown, hitting coach Alonzo Powell and pitching coach Dwight Bernard–outfielders
Prentice Redman, Jerry Owens and Bryan LaHair, catcher Fleming Baez, infielders
Callix Crabbe and Erick Monzon and pitchers Eric Hull, Doug Fister, Josh Hall,
Jared Wells, Andy Baldwin and Justin Thomas all teed it up for charity.

Several Rainiers players participated in
the pre-round putting contest, with LaHair turning in the closest putt to the
pin, rolling his shot to within a foot and a half of the cup.

On the first hole, Parkland Chevrolet’s
Ron VanGeystel parked his ball closest to the flag at five and a quarter
inches, just beating out Thomas (eight inches) to take home a prize package
including a PCL hat and shirt, as well as a Paint the Park Purple Jersey.

The second hole was the site of the
Rainiers long-drive contest, with Powell narrowly beating out Baldwin for the
longest drive of the day on that hole.

The 12th hole featured the Rainier
Connect Marshmallow Drive contest, which was won by D.J. Cobb, who whacked a
marshmallow 134 feet, eight inches.

For much of the afternoon, the team of
Brown, Jeff Sadler, Marty Boscos, John Combs and Jason Stockton paced the field
in the scramble-play format, but they were edged out by one stroke in the end
by the team of Hull, Dan Koch, Adam Knoll, Rick Adams, Jerry Isaksen and BZ
Zenczak for the tournament’s top honors.

Baldwin’s team of Kale and Wayne Larkin,
Jeremy Balzarini and Alex Schilter came in third, shooting a 57 on the day.

The Rainiers return to action today
against the Las Vegas 51s, the Triple-A Affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays.

The last time Tacoma squared off with the
51s, in a June 6-9 set at Cashman Field, the two squads split the four-game
series, with the Rainiers coming out on top 9-2 in the opener and 6-3 in the
finale.

The last time
these two teams clashed, there was offense aplenty, with Tacoma and Las Vegas combining for 42
runs on 85 hits during their four-game set earlier in the month, with the
Rainiers going 44-for-147 (.299) against 51s pitching.

Las Vegas starter Brian Burres is 0-1
this season against Tacoma, allowing five runs on eight hits in 6.2 innings on
June 6.