It was a night to come together and have fun. It was a night to celebrate the lives of Evesham Township’s fallen heroes.
On Aug. 30, eight teams of softball players gathered at The Diamonds at Arrowhead Park for the township’s inaugural Fallen Hero First Responder Softball Tournament.
It was there under the setting sun that players, residents and local businesses gathered to honor the lives of Marlton residents Matthew Hempel and Edward Zubrzycki.
Hempel served nearly 19 years with Evesham Fire-Rescue as a firefighter and lieutenant before he passed away suddenly on Feb. 14 at the age of 42.
Zubrzycki served as a Det. Sgt. with the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office and had been with the office since 1996 before he also passed away suddenly on May 7, 2015, at the age of 43.
Both men left behind wives and children.
Teams at the event included two teams fielded from the Evesham Police Department, two by Evesham Fire-Rescue, and teams from the mayor, Evans Elementary School, the Marlton Business Association and Evesham Mortgage.
Although the event was free for the public, donations from the tournament will go to the Hempel and Zubrzycki families.
To start the event, Mayor Randy Brown asked the teams to line up along the first and third baselines of the same field for a brief prayer and opening ceremony where Brown spoke of Evesham’s community spirit.
“I just want to thank every one of you for not only your time and your volunteering for tonight, but for your dollars you’re putting out to help the great families of this community,” Brown said. “I thank you from the bottom of my heart for doing what you think is the best thing to do for our great town.”
Following Brown was Evesham Fire-Rescue Chief Bryan Ward, who said the department and township lost Hempel too early in life and so the department would play in his honor.
“On the back of the fire jerseys, you’ll see №10. №10 was Matt’s line number for the fire department and obviously we all wear №10 in honor of Matt tonight,” Ward said.
To speak on behalf of the Evesham Police Department was Chief Christopher Chew, who said the police were also wearing a number on the back of their jerseys with №7510 to represent Zubrzycki’s badge number with the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office.
“When you look up the definition of hero, Ed truly was a hero. Just a great guy, always a smile on his face, great family man, and there is no doubt in my mind that he would be wanting us out here celebrating his life,” Chew said.
Also speaking at the event was Rep. Tom MacArthur, who praised Evesham and its residents for taking the time to honor the work and sacrifice of the township’s first responders.
“Why do we call police, fire, EMS first responders — because you show up immediately and you show up always,” MacArthur said. “You make the decision before the event happens that you’re going to be there no matter what the risk is.”
