Easton Youth Baseball's Charis Tournament Continues to Evolve

Since the late 1980’s, the Charis tournament in Easton has continued to evolve.

Forty-four teams participated in this year’s event, eight of which came from Easton.

The tournament, which enters its eighth and final day Friday afternoon at Militia Park, remains a vital part of the community and honors Don Charis, who graduated from in 1986 and died in a tragic motor vehicle accident.

This year, there have been several teams outside of the region, like Shrewsbury and Southboro.

“What was neat was that we had some teams who come a long way to participate,” Tournament Director James Muir said. “We had a team from Southboro and a couple of different teams from Shrewsbury, which I think was new, and Seekonk and Swansea even threw a couple of teams up for the week. All in all we had a pretty good turnout this year."

“It’s amazing to see how the tournament has really exploded over the last number of years,” added Mark Bissonette one of the tournament committee members. “We had over 40 teams participate this week and we had 50 games over that span. It’s just really exploded and it’s great to be a part of it.”

These events are certainly something the late Don Charis would have enjoyed to see. Charis dedicated many years at Militia Park, as a player and umpire.

Despite his tragic accident, his lasting impression still remains intact.

“Donny Charis was a great kid,” said Steve Leonard, a Project Manager at CWB Contractors and long-time volunteer for Easton Youth Baseball.

“He worked for me for years [at CWB] and he was actually working for me when he was killed. I got him to come up here to umpire many games during my time as Umpire-in-Chief. He played here when he was a 9-year old up to age 12 and he came back and helped out with all the tournaments and festivities even throughout the regular season.”

Bisonnette, a former classmate, had similar thoughts about Charis, including his love for baseball.

“Donny loved baseball, he was really into it,” he said. “We went away on many trips and played tons of baseball together. He was a devoted friend and a really good guy.”

Last year, the Charis family came on the last day of the tournament as part of a ceremony in Don’s honor.

Charis’ mother, Jane Blye stopped by the fields on Sunday during one of the busiest days of the tournament.

“Jane actually stopped by on Sunday just to say hello,” Muir said. “If she comes by Friday we’ll have a ceremony much like we did last year with her and the family.”

The Charis tournament has and will continue to evolve thanks to the support from the community. But, the honor in Charis’ memory is something that will remain the same.

“It was a great fitting to dedicate [the tournament] to his name and his memory,” Leonard said. “His mother and father were thrilled that we were able to do that. We’ve done it for at least 20 years now and we continue to do it and sponsor it in Donny’s name.”

The Tournament will conclude Friday evening at 5:30 p.m. with championship games in four divisions:

• 9 year-olds: Marlboro vs Shrewsbury National
• 10 year-olds: Easton Americans vs. Shrewsbury
• 11 year-olds: Raynham vs. Southboro
• 12 year-olds: Mansfield vs. Whitman