May 28, 2015 4 min read

CALIFORNIA – Jefferson-Morgan’s players and coaches stood on the third-base line at California University’s Lilley Field early Thursday afternoon. One by one, they had their names called by the public address announcer before receiving their gold medals for winning the WPIAL Class A softball championship.

Each was met by large cheers from the crowd, but one person was missing. After the players received their medals, the next name called was assistant coach Chris Dugan.

Dugan died May 15 after a long battle with cancer. There to receive the medal was his 13-year-old daughter, Caitlyn, the younger sister of the Rockets junior second baseman Camryn Dugan.

Camryn Dugan’s eyes welled up as head coach Tony Barbetta put the medal around Caitlyn’s neck and gave her a hug. There were few dry eyes around the softball field.

“It was timeless. Everything felt like it stood still,” Camryn Dugan said. “That was one thing that will really stick in my mind and will be in my memory forever. That was definitely something that was really important to us, and my sister is definitely happy she got to stand in memory of him.”

She’s not the only one. Chris Dugan has been a fixture in youth softball since Camryn was 7 years old. He helped build the local softball field in Jefferson, organized the youth leagues and never missed one of his daughters’ games.

He has helped many of the Rockets’ players since their time in youth softball and has spent four years as an assistant under Barbetta. Dugan’s health worsened as the WPIAL playoffs approached.

Though he was unable to watch Jefferson-Morgan’s first-round game against Western Beaver, he laid in a hospital bed listening to a webcast of the game. Camryn hit a three-run home run in the Rockets’ 10-0 win over Western Beaver.

He died a day before his 46th birthday and three days before J-M’s quarterfinal win over Sewickley Academy.

One day before the funeral last week, Camryn hit a solo home run to help the Rockets defeat Frazier and advance to the program’s first WPIAL championship game. Moments before she touched home plate, Dugan pointed at the sky to remember her father.

It is softball that connected the two years ago and will continue to do so, even after his death.

“The past few weeks have been tough, but softball has definitely helped me through all of this,” Camryn Dugan said. “It’s nerve-racking, but exciting at the same time. It’s really a good experience for me. I really love the sport.”

This day was a reflection of that love. It might not have been possible without Chris Dugan. Though Camryn went 0-for-3 in the title game against Chartiers-Houston, she had three putouts on defense and an assist on a ground ball for the first out in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Two strikeouts later, the Rockets were champions.

Barbetta was asked by the site manager what he would prefer to do to honor Chris Dugan after the game.

“I said, ‘No, announce his name and that will be good,'” Barbetta said. “He’ll hear. He’s probably wondering why he couldn’t reach down and grab any home runs today. It doesn’t always happen though.”

Camryn and other Jefferson-Morgan players wore blue and white ribbons in their hair and #TeamDugan decals on their batting helmets. Members of the crowd wore shirts of the same color with the words, “Team Dugan” inscribed on the front. The blue and white represents Colon Cancer Awareness – the type of cancer that Chris Dugan battled.

The support was overwhelming. Players from Frazier, Carmichaels and Mapletown were on hand to cheer on the rival Rockets.

“It’s amazing,” Camryn Dugan said. “It’s unbelievable that a little, small town like Jefferson and Greene County can come together to do.”

With the Rockets looking to earn the program’s first state playoff win in program history, the community will continue to rally around Jefferson-Morgan and the Dugan family. No matter what the rest of the season holds, Thursday’s medal ceremony will not soon be forgotten.