Kathryn Morrissey hangs a framed “One Millionth College World Series Fan” pennant in her home. Her grandfather Raymond Maaske grabbed it in 1972 as he walked into Omaha’s Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium, home to the NCAA’s Division I championship baseball tournament from 1950 to 2010.
“It’s a family heirloom,” she says. “A keepsake that is really precious to us.”
Morrissey’s grandfather, a farmer who listened to baseball games on the radio while he drove his tractor, introduced her to the CWS when she was a child. Now the first executive director of CWS of Omaha, Inc.—the nonprofit organizing committee that plans the event each year—Morrissey has spent more than 30 years aiding efforts to preserve Omaha’s “hometown home run.