"The tournament has people following it for years showing up in the crowd," said Tom McCarville, who has been attending the single-elimination tourney since his daughters, Lisa and Laura, played in it for Buena in 1987.

That year, Jim Caputo, a former Cherokee softball coach, began helping Hammonton coach Lee Chappine run the event.

"Lee started the Hammonton tournament in 1982," Caputo said. "Two years ago, I called Tom McCarville and asked him to help select teams and to put in a schedule. He was an official and understood the game.

"I got out in October."

McCarville, 67, and Caputo, 75, selected the teams, submitted their names to Hammonton athletic director Mike Gatley for approval, and paired them for the tournament, scheduled for today, tomorrow and next Saturday.

It will be a time-consuming task if the retired insurance office manager has to do it alone next year.

"I will start looking for someone I call a young guy or woman to continue this," said McCarville, president of the Cumberland County Umpires Association and a former football assigner for the New Jersey Football Officials Association.

"Today's game has so much to do with pitchers and former college players like [Washington Township coach] Tracy Burkhart. I was fortunate to umpire games she was coaching."

McCarville said a bad back forced him to stop umpiring in 2006 after 40 years behind the plate, but it didn't diminish his enjoyment of the sport. So he was happy to share his expertise with Caputo and Hammonton.

McCarville starts his search for worthy tournament teams in the off-season by following travel squads.

"Pennsville should be loaded this year," said McCarville, who keeps notes of players he has seen since they were in eighth grade. "Most of the girls are 18 now."

By the end of the summer, McCarville and Caputo would pick up to 28 teams and pare them to 20, then submit them to Gatley. The list would be pared again by the AD, who occasionally has teams that are unable to participate in the 16-team tourney.

The teams must accept or decline the invitation by late November, but few pass up the opportunity because they don't want to miss a chance to play powerful opponents, regardless of their student enrollments.

But not all schools are invited back. Rosters change from year to year, wiping out some teams' competitive edge and boosting others'.

Consequently, Vineland, Lenape, Holy Spirit, Camden Catholic and Sterling, all of whom played in the tournament last year, are out this season.

Absegami, Gloucester Catholic, Shawnee, Williamstown and Gloucester, which did not participate last year, are in the brackets this season.

McCarville said he was not opposed to expanding the geographic area to include teams from North Jersey, or increasing the number of teams participating. But those matters will have to be studied.

Meanwhile, he will need help for next year.

or biezzi@phillynews.com.