KINGSPORT – Players for the VPP softball team wore custom jerseys stylized like something from a Grand Theft Auto video game. One of the games that’s set in Vice City, to be specific.
On Saturday, in the Fun Fest One Pitch Softball Tournament, sponsored by Century 21, VPP ended up topping the wanted list, to to speak, and won the Men’s Open tournament.
It was a hot, and, at times, heated day in Kingsport. Tempers flared on occasion, whether it was from trash talk on the field, between games, or the occasional lengthy debate about a rule.
Amid the drama, and the home runs, VPP just kept racking up wins.
“I take it serious,” said Robert “Papi” Crespo, who runs the VPP team and plays as pitcher. “I don’t like to lose.”
VPP defeated Diamonds 22-7 in the championship round, culminating a long day and emerging supreme in a 15-team bracket that drew representation from across the region. Seven of the competing teams represented Kingsport, with two from Church Hill, four from Johnson City, one from Bristol, Va., and one from Big Stone Gap in Wise County.
“The environment feels a lot like back in the day, when it was booming; numbers were up,” said Jason Wilburn, a program administrator for the Kingsport Parks and Rec department who served as tournament director from 2022-25. “You do have some conference guys in here that play a lot of weekend ball. It gets a little more competitive.”
VPP was the only team that went undefeated in the event. Topping the winners bracket also meant VPP got nearly two hours’ rest while Diamonds, TCE, and Bayou played out the remainder of the consolation bracket.
“We like to play back to back to back,” Crespo said. “Those two-, three-hour waits? They kill you.”
Crespo oversees the VPP team. He’s from Miami – hence the Vice City-style jerseys. This was the first time Crespo fielded a squad in the Fun Fest tournament.
“I’ve been here for five years going on six. The team has been together 10 years, at least. I just took over when I moved up here,” he said. “We play league nights here [in Kingsport] Mondays, and we play in Johnson City, and we do play tournaments together. That’s just what we do. We play together. We’re all best friends, so we all hang out. It’s more like a family thing and that’s why we jell so well together.”
Diamonds faced the task of having to beat VPP twice in the championship round, but Crespo’s squad wrapped up the title in 3½ innings, pushing across 15 runs in the bottom of the first.
Crespo pitches left-handed, which in baseball would potentially yield a disadvantage against a slew of right-hand dominant lineups, such as the one Diamonds fielded. He kept the opposition off balance in the championship game, though, as Diamonds didn’t even make it all the way through their 11-man lineup twice before the game ended via the mercy rule.
Crespo said his slow pitch “has a natural drop to the outside. … They know where I pitch and it still gets them. Which is the fun thing about it, because they know that I’m going to throw the same pitch and they still can’t hit it.”
VPP also won the home run derby, which paired competitors head to head in a single elimination bracket. Tyler Rivard claimed the title, slugging 10 home runs in the final. Rivard, who said he moved to the area from Vermont two years ago with his fiancee, played basketball, baseball, soccer, and golf in high school.
Tyler Rivard, HR Derby champ
“I miss baseball, so this is the closest I can get,” Rivard said.
In recent years, the Fun Fest softball tournament has struggled with turnout due to competing events elsewhere in the region. That was less of an issue this year, hence 15 teams coming out compared to nine in 2025.
Buzz Morris, a program coordinator for Kingsport Parks and Rec, served as tournament director this year.
“We want it to be fun and local teams come and it be a part of the community,” Morris said. “It’s not built for the travel teams and the weekend teams. It’s built for people to come out and have fun. That’s the goal: for people to come out, locally, and have a good time.”
Men’s Open Results
First Round
Benchwarmers United def. Cardinal Glass
Balls Lawn Care def. Bench Warmers
Diamonds def. One Pitch Wonders
VPP def. EMC
GPF def. D2B
Bayou def. Vipers
TCE def. OTM
Winner’s Bracket Quarterfinals
Benchwarmers United def. Bubba Blue’s
Diamonds def. Balls Lawn Care
VPP def. GPF
TCE def. Bayou
Consolation First Round
EMC def. D2B
OTM def. Vipers
One Pitch Wonders def. Bench Warmers
Consolation Second Round
Balls Lawn Care def. EMC
Bubba Blue’s def. OTM
Bayou def. Cardinal Glass
GPF def. One Pitch Wonders
Consolation Third Round
Bubba Blue’s def. Balls Lawn Care
Bayou def. GPF
Winner’s Bracket Semifinals
Diamonds def. Benchwarmers United
VPP def. TCE
Consolation Semifinals
TCE 13, Bubba Blue’s 5
Bayou 8, Benchwarmers United 7
Winner’s Bracket Final
VPP 19, Diamonds 13
Consolation Final
TCE 19, Bayou 11
Championship Round Eliminator
Diamonds 35, TCE 18
Championship Round
VPP 22, Diamonds 7