Ray DeMarini was a ball player. He lived and breathed to hit a softball. The company he created, DeMarini Sports in Hillsboro, Oregon, is a ballplayers company.

In December 2001, 12 years after he founded DeMarini Sports, Ray DeMarini died of cancer in his Northwest Portland home. He was 55.

Even after Ray’s death, and the companies’ acquisition by Wilson Sporting Goods, it is still a company run for ballplayers by ballplayers. The company with Ray’s name on it still has many of the same employees that worked with Ray and DeMarini Sports continues to fill positions with softball players. One of the top dogs in Portland, DeMarini’s Marketing Director Jerry Garnett was a Major level player. The DeMarini Sports company works hard to remind softball players that Ray’s spirit is alive and his joy and love of the game can be enjoyed by all. Even now, Ray’s office is kept the same as it was on the last day he worked.

In 2000, DeMarini joined forces with Wilson Sporting Goods to develop the next generation of hitting technology. Ray believed it was a perfect fit, as both companies shared a vision of developing game-enhancing equipment for avid players. What’s more, the companies had complimentary products: Wilson was the leader in gloves, balls and protective gear, while DeMarini made great bats.

The Wilson execs, including Jim Hackett, Wilson’s Vice President for Baseball and Softball, play softball in Chicago as well as hitting the ball in Portland when they visit the factory.

DeMarini Sports even has one or two guys whose full time job is to hit. They hit and hit and hit_They hit live pitching, they hit off of tee’s and they hit off of pitching machines at the DeMarini bat industrial complex Ray built in ’98. They hit in Ray’s custom made batting cage with top secret testing equipment and computers which monitor wall activity of the bat and compression of the softball. Stop motion video cameras record every swing.

They test all kinds of materials and when they want to try a new prototype bat in a more game type surrounding they hit at Ray DeMarini field.

The summer after Ray died, the Portland Metro Softball Association paid homage to the "King of Softball" with the dedication of Ray DeMarini Field. Formerly known as Delta #1, the field was Ray’s favorite place to test bats during the early days of business. Today, a 40-foot sign announcing RAY DEMARINI FIELD graces the outfield, and an interpretive display chronicling Ray’s life greets players as they register for games.

DeMarini Sports is a homegrown company started by a softball fanatic.

That sprit is alive and well in the company Ray started.