WAILUKU — When many in Maui’s adult softball community think of the term “above and beyond,” they think of Larry Ragudo Jr.

The humble 52-year-old from Kahului puts in countless hours of work to ensure that the community has access to competitive, but fun games of organized softball. And he was doing just that as families sat around the dugout at Papohaku Park to watch their husbands, fathers, brothers, uncles and friends run the bases on a Wednesday night late last month.

“They just come out here to enjoy and have fun,” Ragudo said in his 808 Softball Maui jersey. “Let everybody come together and enjoy their evening, play some softball and get away from work.”

While running one adult league is challenging enough, Ragudo has been coordinating four, including the men’s open on Monday nights in Wailuku, 40 and over in Kihei on Tuesday nights, 40 and over in Wailuku on Wednesday nights, and men’s open in Kihei on Thursday nights — each league has six teams and there’s around three games per night during the season. Players join via word of mouth.

On this particular week, it was the playoffs. The night featured an exciting contest between 808 Softball Maui and Sandlot.

After getting a lot of requests, Ragudo said he’s working on bringing back an all-women’s league in the future.

“Without him right now, none of us would get to play at the park,” said Chris Vierra, who has known Ragudo for decades. “What he does, he puts in a lot of work on the side that most of us don’t see. He comes out and he gets the parks ready and he does everything he needs to get the parks for us.”

He added that “it’s awesome” how Ragudo runs the league based on the input from the community, which doesn’t always happen. The players are grateful to have someone as passionate about softball as Ragudo to step up to the plate and take the lead, Vierra said.

“Sometimes you don’t know who’s going to take over these leagues,” he said. “It’s a hard job. It’s not easy.”

After Ragudo’s day job at Truss Systems Hawaii, he arrives at the games early to prepare the field and stays late to clean up. Ragudo also competes on his own teams, some of which travel for tournaments statewide and on the Mainland, as well as umpires on Monday nights.

To add to his busy schedule, there are also tournaments planned throughout the year, which had not been conducted since before the pandemic.

“After work, I usually go home — I finish work at 5 p.m. and I live in Kahului, so I rush home — and I sit in my recliner and put my feet up for 10 minutes, literally, get ready and come to the park at 5:30 and start watering down the field and put in the bases,” Ragudo said. “This is what I love to do. I play a lot of softball.”

Playing men’s league softball since the age of 15, including with his father, the Maui High School graduate said that the “game gave me a lot.” Growing up around the parks opened opportunities to compete, meet other players and learn about the sport.

Ragudo’s three kids grew up doing the same.

So, it wasn’t about the money when he decided to start running a Maui league five years ago. He saves the funding for insurance and permit expenses for the next season, and to buy new softballs for the players and supplies for the scorekeepers.

“It’s about taking care of all these guys that play in my leagues, that’s why I do it,” he noted. “Everybody wants to play, everybody wants to come out and hang out.”

Recognizing the work that he does behind the scenes, Steven Lum Ho, who plays on two teams in the 40s league, including with Ragudo in Kihei, said that Ragudo goes “above and beyond” and “brings community connection.”

“A lot of these people have their 9-to-5 jobs, they come out here, bring their families and they barbecue,” Lum Ho said. “We’ve become like an extended family, so that’s what he does for the community. … The camaraderie is the biggest thing. I love playing, but I always look forward to seeing the guys.”

Many of those participating in the adult leagues are also former baseball/softball athletes since childhood who now have the opportunity to continue playing the sport they love while also getting a little exercise, especially after not having access to any organized activities throughout the pandemic for nearly three years.

“I’ve been playing since I was 8 years old,” Lum Ho said. “When school finished, I picked up softball. I knew Larry for a long time but that’s when we started playing together, after high school. … We’re fortunate to have this.”

Said Vierra: “I like the part about camaraderie.”

“About 80 percent of the people I know now is probably through softball,” he added. “That’s the biggest thing that I like, we can go any place — we can go restaurants, we can be on the Mainland — we’ll see somebody we know of whatever age.”

On May 8, Ragudo earned nonprofit status for 808 Athletics, an organization he built over the past 9 months to “give back to the community.”

“It was stressful for me and I wanted to give up, but something inside me said, ‘You wanted to do this,’ and so I went through with it like I usually do,” he said. “All the work is worth it.”

With the nonprofit, he hopes to help families and youth with “meaningful” fundraising goals, such as getting supplies; shoes, gloves and hats; travel assistance; or other equipment that will support kids’ participation in softball.

“I want to help the families who cannot do it themselves,” he said.