Hightstown High School Alums Honor Fallen Friend

July 4th softball tournament held to raise money for the Jason Segarra Memorial Scholarship, awarded to a graduating Hightstown High School senior each year.

By Davy James | East Windsor Patch

Jason Segarra died over 10 years ago, yet the memories he left behind have not faded with the passage of time. The 1994 graduate of Hightstown High School left a lasting legacy in the hearts and minds of family and friends, who found a new way to honor him on July 4.

Under a scorching sun at Hancock Field in East Windsor on Monday, the Jason Segarra Memorial Softball Tournament was held to raise money for a scholarship in Segarra's name, awarded each year to a graduating Highstown High School senior.

"We've been giving this scholarship for the last 11 years to seniors who are continuing their education, who are registered organ donors with the New Jersey Sharing Network, and they also have to promote organ donation at Hightstown High School," said Jason's mother, Yvette Segarra.

Yvette said it was a conversation with her son prior to his death in July, 1999 that led her to begin promoting organ donation.

"He told his father and I that he registered to be an organ donor, and my initial reaction was why would you do that?" she said. "Jason said to me, when I go I'm not going to need my organs, so why not help someone else? After he died, while we were at the hospital, when they talked to me about donating Jason's organs I might've said no had my son not told me that."

After his death in 1999, Jason's heart went to a Florida resident in need of a transplant, while his pancreas and kidneys went to another man battling diabetes. Yvette herself also became an organ donor in 2002, having given one of her kidneys to her sister. She said that many rumors about organ donation are false.

"I've heard some ridiculous things, like you can't have an open casket if you're an organ donor, and that's not true," she said. "It's so important for everyone to do. To me, this is another way to keep my son with me, though I'd rather have him right here. But I've visited the man who got his heart, and when I put my hand on this man's chest, I can feel my son's heart still beating so strongly."

For the friends of Jason, who was known affectionately as "Sigmond," the idea to raise money through a softball tournament was a natural extension of a tradition born in Twin Rivers in the mid-1990's. Each year, eight teams of HHS alums would get together for a grueling July 4th tournament, played throughout various fields in the Rivers for year-long bragging rights.

The tournament ended in 2003, after old age caught up with many of the players, who could no longer sweat through 10 straight hours of softball. The idea to bring back the July 4th tournament as a way to honor Jason Segarra seemed like a natural fit according to one of the organizers, Dan Motola, of East Windsor.

"I was talking with (co-organizer and Hightstown High School wrestling coach) Mike Russo and he said we should bring the tournament back, which was a great idea and got our creative juices flowing," Motola said. "We only started planning this in the second week of June, so we will be bringing the tournament back again next year, with more sponsors and more teams for a great cause.

"When Jason was taken from us, in his absence he saved lives by donating his organs. So now we can also continue his name with this tournament, which we all grew up playing, and we can raise money in his honor while doing it."

The tournament on Monday featured four teams comprised of mostly HHS alumnus, and captained by Justin Goetzman, Jason Perschetz, Russo and Dan Stewart, playing in a round-robin format. The event also featured a silent auction for goods and gift certificates donated by businesses such as City Streets in East Windsor, Voi Salon in East Brunswick, Brothers Pizza in Hightstown, and various other local establishments. Trophies were donated by Gateway Funding in Hamilton. Use of the complex on Hancock Road was provided courtesy of HEWBYL.

"It's absolutely amazing and such a tribute to the loyalty of Jason's friends, who are still so close and remember him like this 12 years after his death," said Jason's sister Tracy Calabria, a teacher at the Perry L. Drew School. "The amount of love and respect everyone still has for him and my family is an incredible thing."

For Segarra's friends, the tournament was another way to remember him, not as though they needed it.

"His memory is still alive and strong with all of us," Motola said. "Not a day goes by that his name doesn't come up when we reminisce. Even though it's been 12 years, it still feels like he's just a phone call away."

Motola added that Segarra was drafted in the tournament and was placed in the starting lineup as a way to remember why everyone was there on Monday.

After the opening game at 8 a.m. the tournament went on throughout the sweltering day as volunteers sold burgers, hot dogs, ice cream and other treats to raise money for the scholarship.

Following the crowning of the tournament champions, "The Wolfpack," captained by Russo, the Most Valuable Player award was given to Tim Trivisonno, a former standout wrestler for Russo's HHS Rams wrestling squad.

Yvette said she had no goal for the amount of money to be raised for the scholarship this year, as it has varied from $1,000 to $2,500 each year. She said her family was just touched that over a decade after he was lost, the memory of Jason Segarra is still prominent in the lives he saved through organ donation, and in the friends who continue to keep him close to their hearts.

"Jason left me a legacy that you can never put a price on," she said. "He may be gone, but he's still so alive in all of our memories."
Click here to donate to the Jason Segarra Memorial Scholarship.