The timing felt strange.

The loss feels a whole lot worse.

My car was loaded up and I was heading for a beach vacation on the afternoon of June 30.

Ralph “Sonny” Westerman Jr. died later that day.

Not good news to come home to. Not good news for any of us.

Another one gone.

Sonny was one of those guys who never tired of volunteering his time for the good of sports. George “Red” Slater was one of those guys. So was Andy Hilliard.

Greg Brown and Dale Schnur belong on that list as well.

Slater coached every youth sport imaginable around Center Township and Meridian and was there for any kid at any time. Hilliard selflessly handled equipment for Butler High School teams and baseball teams at Pullman Park virtually his entire life.

Brown bailed out the Butler Area Midget Football League financially and was always there for the league. Schnur and his brother, Dess, have done wonders for East Butler baseball and that complex on top of the hill.

There are a few other selfless individuals like those above who are still among us.

But they are dwindling.

So few people seem willing to donate time toward a worthy cause anymore, be it for athletics or another faction of life.

Sonny Westerman was a legend that way.

Set aside for a moment the fact he coached youth baseball for six decades, did wonders for legion and Eagle County ball and has taken up residence in five Halls of Fame.

His formation and development of the Freeport International Baseball Invitational demonstrates what one man’s vision and determination can pull off.

Sonny loved baseball in its purest form. He enjoyed the game for what it was. He wanted as many kids as possible to experience baseball simply as a fun, interactive activity with others — with no championship, league title or trophy on the line.

So he structured the Freeport International Invitational.

The term “for the love of the game” could not be a more apt label for this event.

Baseball teams from Canada, Japan, Germany, Australia and other parts of the world have traveled to Freeport to participate. A team from the Bronx in New York leaves that area only one time all season, each season — and that’s to experience pure baseball in Freeport.

It’s worth it to those people.

The 23rd Freeport Invite begins Monday and runs through the weekend. A Japanese team will be there again, along with a team from Canada and a few nearby states.

Sonny won’t be there.

At least, not physically.

Spiritually, his name will never leave this celebration of baseball and the realization of one man’s vision.

Baseball and Sonny Westerman should be celebrated together.

In many ways, they are one and the same.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle.