Evanston baseball coach Frank Consiglio called the first Ross Freeland Memorial Softball Tournament a tremendous event for a one-of-a-kind person.
The tournament took place on Saturday, July 23, at Lazier Field football stadium and was named in honor of Freeland, the highly popular math teacher and baseball assistant coach who died on March 14 after a short battle with stomach cancer. He was 41.
The 12-inch softball tournament had three-inning games and lasted over four hours. The tournament drew nearly 130 people, including current athletes, former athletes, Freeland’s former colleagues and friends and Anna Freeland, who married Ross Freeland in 2014. Thanks to T-shirt sales, concessions and donation boxes, the event raised $1,000 for the Ross Freeland Scholarship Fund.
Mark Roth, who organized the event with fellow 2015 Evanston graduate Ben Osterlund, said the idea for a summer tribute arose at Ross Freeland’s March funeral, when he realized several former students were not able to attend because they were away at college.
Roth, who happened to be home from Carleton College (Minn.) on spring break at the time, said the softball idea evolved later on, and it seemed a fitting way to honor his former coach.
“The funeral was somber. It was a very emotional time for everyone who knew (Ross Freeland),” said Roth, who played varsity baseball and soccer at Evanston. “It was nice to juxtapose that with the tournament, which was something he would have enjoyed participating in. It was nice to see a bunch of smiling faces and alumni catching up with one another.”
Attendees told plenty of Ross Freeland stories, many of which were about his selflessness and his genuine interest in seeing teenagers succeed.
“I had him as a teacher and coach, and he cared about every one of his students and players, about how those players were doing in the classroom,” said Charlie Maxwell, a 2016 Evanston graduate who will play baseball at Northwestern next season. “He’d always ask players about our classes and what our plans were for college. He appreciated and understood the value of being a student-athlete. He was a prime example of a good teacher and coach.”
In early May, Maxwell became the first recipient of the Ross Freeland Scholarship, a grant given by the Evanston Township High School math department to a “senior student for excellence in mathematics, interest in the field of statistics, entrepreneurship or engineering, and strong involvement in athletics, while always putting others first.”
Maxwell said he knew nothing about the scholarship until members of the math department came into his class one day to announce him as the winner. Later, Anna Freeland presented him with the scholarship at the annual Math Awards.
The grant is for $1,000, and Maxwell, who plans to major in economics and minor in mathematics, said it’s the most meaningful award he could receive.
“It’s the most amazing feeling to be recognized for following (Ross Freeland’s) lifestyle, which is what I’ve tried to do. It’s just the most amazing feeling,” Maxwell said.
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Ross Freeland’s cancer battle, which lasted just two months, and death loomed large over much of the Evanston baseball season this past spring. Players only learned of his illness a few weeks before Ross Freeland was gone.
All season, the team, which finished 22-10, wore Ross Freeland’s initials on their jerseys and purple bracelets featuring one of his favorite sayings “It’s a Process.” In mid-April, Ross Freeland’s initials were put atop the “Freeland Wall” in left field.
Consiglio said the wall will help keep Ross Freeland’s memory alive within the program.
“The biggest challenge (for me) will be for every kid to know who Ross was and what he meant to the program,” said Consiglio, about the nine-year assistant coach known not only for coordinating Evanston Baseball’s offseason workout program, but for also participating in it. “The best way to honor him is to not let his memory die, tell stories to the kids and make sure they know who he was. The Freeland Wall will always be there.”
Dan Shalin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press