The family of the late James Birkenstock raised more than $1,200 toward Juvenile Diabetes at the James T. Birkenstock Strikeout Diabetes softball tournament on Dec. 28 and 29 at the Hudson Valley Sportsdome in Milton.

The Lady Dukes 18U team won the overall championship with a win over Run and Gun. The Lady Dukes were undefeated in pool play and opened bracket play with a win over the Dutchess Debs.

Emma Jackson and Sam Maleck were the co-MPVs of the gold championship bracket for the Lady Dukes.

Eight teams participated in the tournament, and the playoffs were separated into two brackets after each team played five pool play games. The top 4 went to the Gold Championship bracket while the bottom 4 played for the silver championship.

Run & Gun defeated the Misfits – a combination of two Empire State Huskies 14U teams) in the other Gold semifinal.

The Empire State Huskies Exarchakis 16U team defeated Premier to win the Silver championship with Sam Aurrichio winning the Silver MVP.

Exarchakis beat the Huskies Moore team in the other semifinal, while Premier advanced with a win over Beacon.

The Marlboro Dukes were the most represented high school team with six players Kiki Del Salto, Jackson, Maleck, Taylor Castellani, Kaitlyn Gordon and Emily Hite playing on various teams.
Birkenstock was the father of Marlboro High School graduates Jameson and Kalista Birkenstock, who was a standout on the Marlboro softball team. Birkenstock is a freshman at Florida Gulf Coast University, where she will play on the school’s Division I softball team.