Late West Point softball coach honored with tournament, memorial bench

Jeff Himler
Sunday, July 16, 2023 12:01 a.m. | Sunday, July 16, 2023 12:01 a.m.

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Courtesy of Mark Ecker

Family members of late West Point softball program founder and coach Ray Mello pose with a bench dedicated in his memory last month, at Ray Mello Field, part of the West Point Little League Complex in Hempfield. Seated are Mello’s daughters Kris Anderson (left) and Marie Stowers. Standing, from left, are son Kevin Mello, wife Bobbie, granddaughter Sydney Anderson, along with Shelly Ryan, who coached a West Point softball team to the 2014 Junior World Series title.

Courtesy of Mark Ecker

Kris Anderson, daughter of late West Point softball program founder and coach Ray Mello, speaks during a ceremony dedicating a bench in her father’s honor at Ray Mello Field, part of the West Point Little League Complex in Hempfield.

Courtesy of Mark Ecker

West Point Little League representatives join others in dedicating a bench to late softball program founder and coach Ray Mello before the inaugural Ray Mello Classic game at Ray Mello Field, part of the West Point Little League Complex in Hempfield. Seated, from left, are members of the 12U West Point Red team: Camryn Ecker, Grace Reese, Caitlyn Leach, Abigail Donahue, Aubree Vassar, Grace Rennie, Ella Balko, Avery Reese, Lena Hisman, Emily Gardiner, Addie King and Brooklyn Simpson. Standing, from left, are: Mark Ecker, West Point softball vice president; Tom Rennie, West Point Little League president; Mello family members, son Kevin, daughters Kris Anderson and Marie Stowers and wife Bobbie; local softball coach Bob Kalp; Shelly Ryan, who coached a West Point softball team to the 2014 Junior World Series title.

Courtesy of Mark Ecker

Kaylee Cordial, West Point 10U softball player, sings the national anthem before the inaugural Ray Mello Classic game, named for the softball program’s late founder and coach. at Ray Mello Field, part of the West Point Little League Complex in Hempfield. Mark Ecker, West Point softball vice president, looks on.

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The late Ray Mello, left, is seen with Bob Kalp and Dick Albright. The three men coached the Hempfield Area softball team together for 23 years.

West Point Little League defeated visiting Latrobe 11-6 in the inaugural Ray Mello Classic softball game.

The Mello Classic honors one of the local Hempfield-based league’s founding fathers and, fittingly, will be held annually on Father’s Day weekend.

Organizers hope to expand next year’s event into a tournament involving multiple Westmoreland County softball teams.

“It will only be for local teams (Latrobe, Mt Pleasant, Central Hempfield)” and will not count toward the season playoffs, said Mark Ecker, West Point softball vice president. “If one of these teams moving forward can’t make it, we’ll then turn toward Derry and Jeannette.”

Before the start of the game on June 17, the league dedicated a bench in memory of Mello at Ray Mello Field, at the West Point Little League Complex on Volunteer Drive. Created from recycled materials, the engraved bench was donated by Sendell Subaru.

Chartered in 1976, West Point is believed to be the first Little League-sanctioned softball organization in Western Pennsylvania. Mello started the West Point league along with others, including Don Thomas and Ralph Snyder, Ecker said.

The West Point league has produced more than 30 softball players who advanced to Division I programs. It has sent 10 teams to the world championships; the 2104 junior team went all the way to win the world title at Kirkland, Wash.

The league has seven teams with combined rosters of 76 girls ages 6-13.

Mello has influenced prominent coaches at local high schools — including Bob Kalp, who was head softball coach at Hempfield Area for 25 years. Mello also served as a volunteer assistant coach for the school team after coaching in the West Point league.

Overall, Mello had a 45-year coaching career.

“He’s had a monumental footprint on softball in Westmoreland County,” Kalp has said.

Mello worked as a civil engineer for Boeing in Seattle before moving to Hempfield and taking on a job as an engineer at Westinghouse.

He died in 2021, at 82, after a three-year battle with cancer.

A dugout at Hempfield Area High School also is named in his honor.