Lee Ice calls his father and uncle godfathers of Lawrence baseball. Together with their friend Louie Heinrich, Tony and Al Ice made Legion baseball a mainstay in Lawrence.

This weekend, at the 19th annual Al Ice Memorial Wood Bat Classic, the legacy they began will continue.

“It’s not all about making money,” Lee said. “What it is, is having a tournament to recognize my dad, and actually, this year, it’s in memory of Tony Ice, my uncle who passed away in September.”

Though it’s not all about money, the money made goes to making improvements to baseball and athletic facilities in the area.

The tournament originally was dedicated to Al, who died in 1980 at the age of 50. With the death of Tony, all three of the Lawrence baseball cornerstones have passed.

During their reign coaching Lawrence’s Legion baseball teams, Tony and Al saw a major shift in the way youth baseball was played. In the early 1970s, teams began using aluminum bats.

In an attempt to get back to baseball’s roots, the Al Ice tournament went all-wood in the early 1990s. The change also provided a uniqueness that attracts some teams.

“I think the wood bat, getting the game back to the way it was originally supposed to be played, is something he’d (Al) probably appreciate more,” Lee Ice said.

Wood bats change the dynamic of the eight-team tournament, Lee said. It forces teams to place a greater emphasis on pitching and defense.

For the Lawrence Raiders, pitching’s been no problem so far this season. In 11 of their first 13 games, starting pitchers recorded complete games, coach Shaun Edmondson said.

“Our guys have been very efficient,” Edmondson said. “We’ve had very few walks as a staff. When you’re doing that, you’re allowing your defense to win behind you.”

Despite the lack of big offensive numbers, Lee has found that teams enjoy the wood-bat experience the Classic provides.

One of Lee’s biggest problems is finding stable Legion programs that participate every year.

“It’s more and more difficult to find programs,” Lee said. “You find teams, but they’re not the programs out there like there used to be. The difference is now there are teams that stay together one or two years, and they dissolve and go on. Our program’s been here virtually since 1949.”

With Legion programs disappearing, and the tournament nearing the two-decade mark, Lee and his family and friends are beginning to ask when it should end.

“I’ve had brothers and sisters, I’ve had committee members (ask), ‘How long are we going to do this?,'” Lee said. “Next year would be the 20th year. That’s kind of a natural stopping point if we were going to stop it, 20 or 25. I haven’t made that decision yet.”

This year’s Al Ice Memorial Wood Bat Classic begins at noon today with the Kansas City Bullets against the Blue Valley Jaguars at Hoglund Ballpark. The Raiders’ first game begins at 7:30 tonight at Hoglund against Ozark, Mo.