DELPHOS, OH (WLIO) -Â A 15-year tradition to honor the memory of a young Delphos Jefferson student-athlete came to an end on Sunday.
This weekend was the 15th and final Nathan Miller Memorial Baseball Tournament. Nathan, a talented multi-sport athlete with a special love for baseball, passed away unexpectedly at the age of 13 from a sudden dissecting aorta. To celebrate his life and love of the game, his parents took over Stadium Park's annual tournament and renamed it in his honor.
"We just wanted to give back to the community, and honestly, a little selfishly, we wanted to keep his memory alive. And this has helped us heal. This has given us as much with our healing as we have tried to help these kids have a good time," said Angie Miller, Nathan's mother. "Seeing the smiles on the faces, yesterday it was pouring down rain, and we had kids out here on bases dancing."
The tournament is for kids 12 and under and is a great opportunity for them to learn how a community rallies together to support one another through sports, and it helps them get used to stricter game rules before moving onto a higher level.
"I think the great thing that these kids learn here is sportsmanship. They get to meet other kids from other places and see how the game is played outside of just our Lima area, and it's just very important, I think, to the development of young baseball players," commented Joe Gomez, the head baseball coach at Bath and a Lima recreational baseball coach.
The money raised at each year's memorial tournament is put right back into the community through scholarships for local high school students.
"We've given $54,000 to 54 different applicants from Delphos Jefferson and St. John's, so we're hoping that money helps them get to college and hopefully get a degree," added Nathan's father, Sam Miller.
At the end of each year's tournament, every player on the winning team is presented with a more practical and fun prize: brand-new mountain bikes. This year, they also decided to give away trophies, not just for the winners. Kids were also given for categories like best dancer and best sportsmanship.
