MANSFIELD – After 13 years of great games on the field and friendships forged off of it, the Stephens family has made the difficult decision to end the Joel Stephens Invitational Tournament.

Founded in 1998 to honor the memory of Joel Stephens and other players from the Twin Tiers, the tournament built a reputation as one of the top senior level baseball tournaments in the Northeast. More than 13,000 players participated and more than $60,000 was raised for several charities and causes through the Joel Stephens Foundation.

“We have had a great run, which would not have been possible without the support of all our volunteers, the teams and our sponsors,” Ron Stephens, Joel's father, said. “We just felt it was time to move on and we'll continue to honor Joel's memory in many other ways.”

“We want to thank Tournament founder Bill Steele and our tournament committee; Terry Day, Steve McCloskey, Harry Hillson, Bob Michaels, Tim Dempsey, Jon Holtz, Pat Ross, Ryan McNamara, Chris Francis, Mike and Jane D'Aloisio and the Palmer family,” Stephen's added.

“Also, a very special thank you to our presenting sponsors, First Citizens National Bank and Mansfield University, which also served as our host, and the Kiwanis Club of Mansfield.”

Stephens points out that the Memorial Golf Tournament at Corning Country Club and the Joel's Kids Golf Tournament in Maryland, sponsored by the Baltimore Orioles Organization, will continue in 2012 as scheduled.