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Charles City Parks & Rec Board OKs former varsity baseball diamond for Little League use

Charles City Parks & Rec Board OKs former varsity baseball diamond for Little League use
Sportsmen’s Park ball diamonds in Charles City. Press graphic/Google Maps
By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

The topic of youth softball and youth baseball facilities equity came up again at the Charles City Parks and Recreation Board of Directors meeting this week, with representatives of both groups emphasizing that they wanted all youth sports to prosper, but disagreeing about how one of the potentially premier ball diamonds in the city should be used.

The Parks & Rec Board also briefly discussed the presentation it will make at the City Council workshop meeting next week, when it will ask the council to approve putting the issue of Lions Park swimming pool renovations on the ballot for about a $3 million bond referendum in November.

The issue between the baseball and softball programs is the use of the former varsity diamond at Sportsmen’s Park, which had been used by the high school baseball team until the new baseball and softball complex was completed near the high school a couple of years ago.

The Parks & Rec Board eventually agreed to allow the field to be changed to create a baseball field for younger players to use, with the understanding that it could be changed in the future to make it a universal field usable by baseball and softball if the need arises.

The diamond currently has a grass infield, which is considered a premium for baseball fields, but the bases are set at 90 feet apart, the distance for high school teams (and Major League, for that matter).

Youth baseball base paths range from 60 feet to 90 feet depending on the age level, with intermediate level for age 12 and under (“12U”) set at 70 feet.

Other differences include a shorter distance between the backstop and home plate for younger leagues, and a shorter distance to the outfield fence.

Representatives of the Charles City Little League program – Tad Barry, Jay Jung and Josh Johnson – had been at the Parks & Rec Board meeting in June, requesting permission for their group to make changes to the Sportsmen’s baseball field to make it usable for 12U and younger divisions.

That would include removing some of the existing infield grass to allow for shorter base paths, moving the outfield fence in and moving the backstop closer to home plate, but retaining a majority of the grass infield.

The discussion at last month’s meeting evolved into a question of whether the field should be made a universal field, meaning a base path of 60 feet — the distance for all softball age levels and many younger baseball leagues.

The most important change, however, would be removing the grass infield. Baseball and softball leagues can both play with a dirt infield, but only baseball can play with a grass infield.

The meeting last month ended with no decision on the question.

At the meeting Wednesday evening, Jeff Hadley, president of the Charles City Girls Softball League, advocated for making the varsity baseball field at Sportsmen’s Park a universal field, available to baseball and softball leagues.

There are two other diamonds at Sportsmen’s that could be considered universal diamonds, with 60-foot base paths and dirt infields, and the potential for three universal diamonds there could open up the potential for more softball tournaments, Hadley said.

Hadley said he had coached baseball and softball teams, and he would be willing to work to help improve the facilities at Sportsmen’s to create three better universal fields, and he offered to work with the Little League program to create grass infields at the Lions Field baseball diamonds if they wanted to try that.

Tad Barry was at the Parks & Rec Board meeting Wednesday to give a report on the season’s Little League program, and said he had not expected the issue of the Sportsmen’s diamond to come up at that meeting.

Barry, noting that he has daughters and he wants the softball program to excel, said the fact is it isn’t there yet, with Little League participation currently greater than softball and no demonstrated need for a three-diamond softball-capable complex.

“It’s not baseball versus softball,” Barry said. “It’s just right now the baseball teams are bringing people to town” for tournaments, and the availability of a grass infield could make it even more attractive.

He said he would hate for the Sportsmen’s field to have the infield grass removed to make it a universal field, then have the softball program not even need it yet.

“Maybe in a couple of years they’ll be there, and that will be great,” Barry said.

Josh Johnson, who was also at the meeting, said there is a need for a boys intermediate-size field, and the Sportsmen’s diamond could be configured for a variety of youth baseball sizes.

Tyler Mitchell, the city Parks and Recreation Department director, said the board needed to make a decision one way or the other rather than continuing to just talk about the issue and leaving the field unused by anyone, adding that the backstop and fences need to be moved for younger players regardless of what else is done.

The Parks & Rec Board approved a motion to allow the Little League program to move the fences and backstop and cut back the infield grass to create an intermediate and younger baseball field.

The vote was 4-1, with board member Dana Sullivan voting no, “only because this will make it difficult to change later,” she said.

The baseball diamond at Sportsmen’s Park – like the former high school softball diamond at the same location – was prone to flooding over the years, which prompted building the new high school ballfield complex. But with the shorter field lengths for younger kids sports, parts of the outfields that were most often flooded can be avoided, youth sports proponents said.

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