Arpin team donates $1,000 ball tourney prize to a cause

By Ken Johnston
Editor

They were playing for a cause and when victory was their’s so it was for their cause!
The Arpins faced off against the Ivalls for the championship game of the annual Rainy River Railroad Daze Slo-pitch tournament this past Sunday.
It was a close game for the first three innings with the Arpins leading 6-4. Then after retiring the Ivalls three up three down, the Arpins broke the game wide open, scoring six more runs to lead 12-4 after four innings.
The Ivalls picked up one run in the top of the fifth but the Arpins answered with two in the bottom half of the inning to lead 14-5.
Both teams were scoreless in the sixth and then it was up to Ivalls to rally in the top of the seventh. Matt Ivall, Tom Armstrong and Earl Ivall all crossed the plate to bring them within five runs of the Arpins. But that would be the end of their rally. Final score was 14-8 and the prize for the Arpins was $1,000.00.
However, the team had decided that if they won they would donate the prize towards the cost of an adoption by Jamie Arpin-Ricci, formerly of Rainy River, and his wife Kim. They have been actively working on adopting a child from Ethiopia but the cost of such a feat is over $20,000! For inner city missionaries this is a big hill to climb.
“We were really touched and excited that our family was willing to win the tournament & donate the funds to our adoption. We only wish we could have been there to see it,” said Jamie Sunday.
They started the adoption process in March, 2006. Jamie said, “International adoption is slow in Canada (and getting slower- we need reform, but that’s another story).”
It wasn’t until December 2010 that they received the referral for “Micah” (which means, it was the first time they had a face & name for our child. Before that, they did not know if they were getting a girl or a boy between baby & 4).
The couple traveled to Ethiopia to meet their son & go to court in May 2011. Since then, the last of the legal paperwork has been completed & Micah is officially theirs. “However, now we must wait for the Canadian gov’t to release a travel visa to bring him home (which could literally come within the next couple of days). At that point we get to head back over to Ethiopia & bring him home!” said Jamie.
When they started the process, they set a fund raising goal for $20,000, which would cover only part of the expenses. Since setting that goal, the costs have gone way up. “They are tough for most people, but you can imagine how hard it is for a couple of inner city missionaries! However, people have been generous. With the addition of the base ball winnings, we only have about $3200 remaining to reach our goal!”
Other tourney results:
The Ivalls received $700 for finishing second in the A event.
Winning the B event was the Rene-gades. They received $300. The second place team in the B was the Can-Am All Stars who received $100 plus some other prizes.