Two softball teams met Sunday afternoon at Franklin Township's Christman Field and unlike many athletic events, the final score didn't matter.

All of the focus was on the memory of Warner B. "Butch" Rodgers, a beloved coach in the Franklin Township Girls' Softball League who passed away suddenly July 31 at 46 years old."Many of us are here for various reasons, but ultimately it is because Butch has had a positive impact in each of our lives in some way, shape or form," said Jim Albert, Rodgers' nephew. "I can't think of a better way to honor his memory than supporting his wife and daughters here today."In addition to the benefit softball game featuring the Cobras, Butch's most recent team, and an alumni squad, the event included a raffle, bake sale and food concessions.The teams played three innings, followed by a 50/50 drawing and the remainder of the game.All proceeds go directly to the Rodgers family.Two Cobra players, Kayla Heffelfinger and Amanda Loudon, helped organize the event as part of their senior project for Lehighton High School."We were like a second family for Butch and we wanted to do something to help out his family," Loudon said. "We put together a business letter and went around to different businesses to get donations for the Chinese auction. We hung up fliers and did a lot of the promotion. It's all to honor a man who played such an important role for all of us."The duo was also instrumental in the development of a scholarship in Butch's honor."It will be $1,000 each year and go to a Lehighton High School softball senior," Heffelfinger said. "Butch's family will be making the final decision as to who gets the scholarship."Rodgers coached in the Franklin Township program for around 14 years.Donald Rehrig, who also played a key role in organizing the event, said the whole thing came together in about "two to three weeks.""It is a great to see such an outpouring of support," Rehrig said Sunday. "Butch was a great guy and today is all about his memory."Rehrig estimated that over 100 prizes were given away during the event.Albert thanked a number of people for helping to make the game a success including Loudon, Heffelfinger, Rehrig, Tim Snyder, Jeff Smith, Terri Andrews and Tiffany Snyder.Pee Wee Andrews, a noted church league umpire, called the balls and strikes, while Steph Petruci sang the national anthem."Butch's dedication to the Franklin Township softball program, the girls he coached and his pride in keeping the field in extremely good condition are, and will be, unsurpassed," Albert said. "The loss of Butch was freak and devastating to us all, but in the end he would have wanted us to move forward in a positive direction with the things he instilled in us leading our way."