Every May, since 2007, something happens at Lonsdale Park in Lincoln, Rhode Island that has nothing to do with standings, travel ball rankings, or showcases.

It has everything to do with baseball the way it was meant to be played.

For one weekend a year, Lincoln Little League pauses its regular season, shuffles the deck, and hosts the Randy Hien Memorial Tournament. Now in its 18th year, a three-day event that has quietly become one of the most special traditions in youth baseball in our community.

Randy Hien was a Little League coach in Lincoln. He gave years of his life to this league, to these kids, to this game. He cared about doing it right, it wasn’t always about winning. When he passed away, the league didn't just want to put his name on a field. They wanted to do something that actually felt like him.

So they built a tournament around everything he stood for.

Ten district championships. Six state championships. Two trips to Williamsport. That was Randy Hien on paper.

Off paper, he was something harder to measure.

Kevin Greene is Randy's stepson and a current Lincoln Little League coach. He grew up inside Randy's world at the ballfield, at home, everywhere in between. When I asked him what he wanted families who never met Randy to know about who he was beyond baseball, he didn't hesitate.

"Randy was the most genuine, authentic person I've ever met. Everyone who met him realized that instantly. He was a jokester with an incredibly infectious spirit that made you want to be around him. Every kid wanted to be a Tiger. He had an innate ability to make whoever he was talking with feel like this was the most important conversation he had all day. A quality that is very rare."

He was the kind of coach whose lessons you carry for the rest of your life and eventually pass down to your own kids.

Fifty-five of Lincoln Little League's Major Division players get redrafted into five evenly matched teams: the Colts, Seals, Bears, Lions, and Hornets. Named after some of the league's original franchises, three of which go back to the league's inaugural season in 1956.

The rules are simple and intentional:

Three-run limit per inning (last inning is unlimited). One inning maximum per pitcher. A new pitcher every inning. Every kid moves around the diamond.

It keeps the game moving. It keeps every kid involved. It puts development over outcomes.

Four of the five teams advance to Sunday's semifinal and championship rounds, with pool play on Friday and Saturday. League president, John Sharkey, opens the tournament each year with team introductions and shares stories about Randy with the crowd.

And the we play ball.

This is where the tournament becomes something more than a tournament.

Each team is assigned an honorary coach. They are former players who suited up for Randy, coaches who stood in the third base box alongside him, teachers, town administrators, and community members who were shaped by this man in one way or another.

This year, State Representative Thomas Paolino coached one of the teams. He played for Randy in 2004. He came back.

Middle school and high school players coached these games too. Some of them came straight from their own senior night to be there.

Let that sink in. One of the biggest nights of a young athlete's life and they chose to spend part of it on a Little League field in Lincoln.

Kevin has watched this happen year after year. When I asked him what it says about Randy that people keep coming back, his answer said everything.

"It shows just how impactful his message truly was. Every year his former coaches and players show up and we reminisce about the good ol' days. Every single one of them lights up when they talk about him. That's what he stood for, making memories, playing the greatest game in the world with your community. That alone speaks for itself."

That's how special this is to our community.

That's what this tournament does. It brings people home.

When you show up to Randy Hien Field on that first Friday night and see the teams warming up, the families filling in, the honorary coaches putting on their hats, what goes through your mind?

"It's a completely surreal feeling. It's the best weekend of the year. Bringing together five teams of kids from all different backgrounds and regular-season rosters on a beautiful weekend is just incredible. It's a weekend of genuinely fun baseball, and you can't ask for much more than a community of people who love the game coming together to honor my dad. I know he's looking down, incredibly happy that we're able to keep this tradition alive year after year."

When a former player pulls you aside during the weekend and tells you what your dad meant to them, what's that like to hear?

"It's the best feeling in the world. There's no other way to describe it. Hearing these stories my whole life has allowed me to paint a clear picture of the massive impact he had on his players and the entire Lincoln community.

Specifically, our conversation about the impact he had on you when you were playing really stuck with me. When you mentioned him introducing the idea of visualization, something that might sound silly to some but that he took so seriously and preached to players, it gives me goosebumps. Hearing that you've now passed that exact technique down to your own son is a deeply surreal feeling. It's proof that his legacy is still alive. He's still here with us every day."

Is there a moment from one of the tournaments, a game, a conversation, something someone said, that really stopped you and made you feel his presence?

"His presence is felt throughout the entire weekend, every single pitch. You see him in the balance of the kids competing hard every inning, but always prioritizing fun. That's exactly what he was about.

During our team's come-from-behind win on Saturday night, a 10-year-old made the final play of the game on an absolute smoking line drive. Seeing him jump in the air in pure excitement, and watching the entire team sprint over to mob him, I'm getting goosebumps again typing this. Based on the stories I hear, that joy is exactly what my dad preached to his players every day. The whole concept of this weekend, giving kids a chance to try positions they've never played, push past their comfort zones, and make new friends from other teams and schools, tells me he's looking down with a massive smile."

What do you want the kids playing in this tournament to take away from it, not just the baseball, but the reason it exists?

"I want them to remember that at the end of the day, it's a kids' game. It's a beautiful sport that is so easy to take for granted. I want them to enjoy every single inning they get out there with their friends, and appreciate the chance to learn from different coaches than they're used to playing for. Every time you step into the batter's box, play like it's your last time and just have a blast.

This weekend is a chance for everyone to take a step back from the high-pressure competitive season and grueling AAU schedules, and just appreciate the game for what it was always meant to be: pure fun."

Kevin Greene, Randy's stepson, grew up watching Randy from the inside. He's now a Lincoln Little League coach himself, carrying on what Randy built, one season at a time.

What's it feel like pulling up to the park on the Friday night of the Hien Tournament?

"When I pull up that Friday I have a feeling of comfort. Like this is exactly where I'm supposed to be. 18 years of Hien Tournament memories flood my mind, followed by memories I have at that park with Randy. One image that always sticks with me is being 10 years old and going to Minors games with Randy to scout for next season's draft, when he'd explain his draft strategy and what he looks for in players. I'll never forget sitting between the fields and just listening to him, hanging on his every word. Watching those games with him is one of my fondest memories as a kid."

What would Randy think if he could see this tournament today?

"He'd be incredibly proud. The community was so important to him. Having a beautiful park for the community to gather and watch Little League baseball was literally his dream. He'd always talk about how amazing it'd be to have a state-of-the-art Majors field on the side of Sam Moore. To see everyone gathered there, with competitive games on both fields at the same time, that's his dream becoming a reality. It's truly amazing for me to witness, knowing how he felt."

Many towns have someone like Randy Hien.

A coach who ran the local league for twenty years and never missed a practice. A former player who came back to give something to the next generation. A volunteer who showed up every Saturday morning without being asked and made the whole thing feel like it mattered.

If that person is gone, the worst thing a community can do is let the memory fade.

Here's what a memorial tournament doesn't have to be: expensive, complicated, or perfect. Lincoln's version started with a simple idea. Redraft the league, bring back the people who loved him, play some baseball, take the grill out. Eighteen years later it's still exactly that.

If you want to start one in your town, here's all you really need:

A league willing to pause the regular season for one weekend. A handful of people who remember the person you're honoring and want to show up. A set of rules that put kids first. And a name on the field that means something.

The rest takes care of itself.

Find your Randy Hien. Build something around him. Keep showing up every May.

Your kids will remember it long after the scoreboard is gone.

The Randy Hien Memorial Tournament is such a cool event that I'm hoping more communities steal the idea.

Once a team gets eliminated, the kids don't go home. They grab a wiffle ball, crash the press box to announce the game, play some music, hop on their bikes or scooters, sneak into the other dugouts, and cheer on their buddies while watching the rest of the games.

Plenty of trash talking to go around, the competitive juices are flowing. Let that be known. Winning this tournament means everything to these kids.

One player from the winning team came up to me after the championship and literally yelled "I've been wanting to win this since I was 5 years old!" And he was dead serious. Typical younger brother, just waiting for his chance.

They hit their parents up for snack bar money, constantly. The parents stay too. They settle in, talk, laugh, and connect with each other in a way that doesn't happen during a regular Tuesday night game. By the time the championship rolls around, it doesn't feel like a tournament anymore. It feels like a community.

Phil Gould, our town administrator, stopped by during the championship game. He coached both of his boys in Lincoln Little League. He didn't have to be there. He wanted to be.

It's parents raking a field, watering the mound, between games because they believe in what the weekend stands for. It's a state rep coming back to coach because he played for Randy twenty years ago and wanted to give something back. It's high schoolers leaving their own senior night to come stand in a Little League dugout and help coach the next generation of players.

It's a reminder that the best things in youth baseball don't cost a thousand dollars in tournament fees. Randy Hien figured that out a long time ago. This tournament is the proof.

And my son Luke, who just turned 11, and along with his teammates, already told me they want to come back and coach a team in this tournament when they get older. They're 11. They already understand the magnitude of what this weekend means.

Randy Hien never stopped coaching. He still hasn't.

We're still playing for him. Every May.

Help me keep more kids in the game. If you found this helpful, please forward it to another parent or coach.

Thanks for being here. See you next week Inside the Dugout.

-Coach Steve-

Steve Holmes
Founder, Inside the Dugout
2006 MLB Draft | All-American | Youth Coach | Dad