For friends and family of Sam Cook, it's still hard to talk about him, even seven years after his death.</p><p>So every year, they get together and do what he loved to do.</p><p>They play softball.</p><p>"Sam was the kind of guy who made it fun to come out and play ball," said friend Nevada Bretz, who runs the Sam Cook Memorial Softball Tournament in Cook's honor every year. "He was very competitive, but he never had a foul word against anyone he played against. He enjoyed the sport, period."</p><p>Seven years is a long time, but for Bretz and Cook's family, the memories persist as fresh as if Sam walked off the diamond yesterday.</p><p>"He played with a lot of different teams," said brother John Cook. "With him, it was about having a good time. As long as he was with friends, winning wasn't a big deal."</p><p>That attitude has come back in kind. Every year, dozens of Cook's old friends and teammates return to the Ag Sports Center in north Los Banos.</p><p>"It's amazing every year to see the same people," John said. "All his friends come out to volunteer. It makes me feel good to see how well liked he was."</p><p>John and Bretz usually run the tournament from an administration role, heading an eight-person committee of Sam's friends and family.</p><p>This year was different, though, as Bretz and John Cook were invited to play on a team. They joined a group of recent high school graduates on a team named Sam's Boys.</p><p>"We had 10 young players and two old guys," said Bretz of the team that went 0-2 in the double-elimination tournament.</p><p>The 2010 tournament title went to Woolgrowers, who came up through the loser's bracket to take out the undefeated Felony 1 team with back-to-back comeback victories.</p><p>Woolgrowers needed extra innings and a quick double play to advance from the semifinal game, and some fancy defense by tournament MVP David Zuniga. Zuniga threw out a runner at home after diving for a ball at second base to seal an 8-7 win in the championship game.</p><p>"It gets really emotional towards the championship game, because that's when we do the speeches and everything," Bretz said. "It's pretty tough for me to get through the speech. You'd think it would get easier, but every year it gets harder and harder."</p><p>Before the championship game every year, Bretz announces the recipients of the four $500 college scholarships that are given with the money raised in the tournament. Then the park falls silent for the playing of Sam Cook's favorite song -- Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man".</p><p>Finally, a family member throws out the first pitch. This year the honor went to Bob Cook, Sam's father.</p><p>"He would have enjoyed this," said John Cook. "He got along with everybody, and they come out every year to honor him, everybody gets along, everybody has a good time. It's a fun, family day."</p><p>The Sam Cook Award, which goes to the player who gave the most effort throughout the tournament, went to Pat Fuentes of Woolgrowers.</p><p>The tournament also features a home run derby. This year's winner was Kyle Climer, with Pete Chavez second.</p><p>Enterprise reporter David Witte can be reached by phone at 388-6565 or by e-mail at sports@losbanosenterprise.com