The 1991 Kent Roosevelt High School baseball team poses for a group photo, with their beloved teammate David Starkey in the middle (jersey No. 18).

By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

The Kent Roosevelt baseball team is set to host the 16th annual David Starkey Memorial High School Baseball Classic this week.

Games will be played on Friday and Saturday, including matchups between Cuyahoga Falls, Field, Highland, Kent Roosevelt, Lake, Norton, Ravenna, Stow and Woodridge.

The longstanding classic is played in honor of David Starkey, who graduated from Roosevelt in 1991 and was a standout member of the Rough Riders’ 1990 district-championship team.

Starkey’s walk-off home run in a victory over Solon in the district-title game remains a legendary story shared amongst his friends and teammates.

Starkey was named the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Player of the Year in 1991, then played for Cumberland College and Cuyahoga Community College.

“Big Stark” then made a name for himself on softball fields across Ohio with is “friendly smile and tape-measure home runs.”

He also began his passionate work as a youth baseball coach for Ravenna Hot Stove, youth basketball and soccer.

Starkey died unexpectedly on Aug. 22, 2007.

This year’s baseball classic schedule is as follows:

FRIDAY

Ravenna at Kent Roosevelt, 5 p.m., at Theodore Roosevelt Park

SATURDAY

Cuyahoga Falls at Stow, 9 a.m., at Stow

Lake vs. Norton, 11:30 a.m., at Theodore Roosevelt Park

Highland vs. Field, 2 p.m., at Theodore Roosevelt Park

Woodridge at Kent Roosevelt, 4:30 p.m., at Theodore Roosevelt Park