THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 30, 1995 TAG: 9504280239
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, CLIPPER SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Long : 212 lines
THERE ARE DIFFERENCES, of course, between the popular movie of baseball fantasy, ``A Field of Dreams,'' and the newly opened Charlton-Mott Youth Complex off Eason Road. Instead of corn, it was soybeans that were plowed under, and no one is expecting the ghosts of baseball seasons past to emerge from the thick overgrowth that surrounds the nine fields and start a pick-up game.
In some respects, what the Great Bridge Baseball Association hoped to accomplish with the complex has not come to pass. There are no lights to allow for night games. There are no permanent concession stands, no restrooms, and no bleachers.
What is there, however, is more ambitious than anything else the city has to offer youth baseball. Five of the fields are fenced, and there's enough land to promise several more fields in the future.
``Once they get it finished, it will be an asset to the city and the community,'' said Gary Pierce as he watched his son, Ryan, in a Shetland division game.
``Great Bridge has needed this for a long time.''
Several kids rubbed their eyes, trying to wake up. Others shifted anxiously. Parents, coaches, and team moms tried in vain to keep their charges focused during the early-morning opening ceremonies last Saturday that kicked off the start of the season for Great Bridge Baseball, one of several Pony Baseball organizations in Chesapeake.
``Our goal started 15 years ago, to have our own field,'' said speaker John Fulford, president of Great Bridge Baseball. ``The dream of our own complex is here today.''
Of the crowd assembled at Colon S. Hall Stadium at 8:30 a.m., most were parents or family members of the nearly 1,700 kids who are registered in Great Bridge Baseball. Outside the stadium, vendors hawked the organization's merchandise.
Kids' T-shirts went for $8, boxer shorts for $10, and sweat shirts for $14. Adult prices were $2 more. The tables seemed to be stocked fairly full, which implied slow sales.
Great Bridge Baseball needs all the money it can get.
On the field, the players were in full uniform, expertly tuning out an array of guest speakers and waiting for fund-raising prizes to be distributed. The ceremony lasted only 50 minutes, but it would be nearly an hour and a half before the first pitch was thrown.
Cars kick up dirt as they turn onto the semi-paved road that leads into the complex, creating a haze which clears to reveal the fields looming in the distance and several hundred kids running rampant.
In the front of the complex are four fenced fields for the older divisions. A fifth, enclosed field is set slightly to the north, beyond a blanket of ankle-deep grass.
Farther east are the four fields set aside for the Shetland division, which is up to 36 teams this season. Two of the fields are entirely made of grass; the other two have clay infields, which were intended to be used by the Pinto division.
``This whole season they're going to be Shetland only,'' said field director Pat Iannatti. ``It'll give kids an opportunity to play on dirt when they're young.''
In the Shetland division, where players are 5-6 years old, everybody plays. Each side gets about three times at bat, and the entire team steps to the plate before their half of the inning is considered over. Games last no longer than an hour.
The outfield, such as it is, is filled with kids, along with volunteers who direct the players where to throw the ball. There is an infield, and the players rotate positions in order to get a range of experience.
There is no pitcher, although one player stands where a mound would be. In Shetland, they use a tee. It's safer that way.
Some kids, like Ryan Pierce, are more advanced than others. Ryan plays for the Pirates' Gold Team and fields his positions like a pro. At the tee, he smacks the ball deep into the outfield for a home run.
Ryan even looks the part. He's got a regulation fielder's glove, flip-down shades to combat the sun, and a set of kid-size batting gloves dangling out of his back pocket.
Ryan Pierce resembles a miniature major leaguer, and it's no mistake.
``He emulates those guys. I think that's where he picks up the game,'' said Gary Pierce. ``You take him to a Tides game, and he'll ask you 9,000 questions, but he's watching. He's very into it.''
During the Shetland games, players sit huddled together on the bench, awaiting their turn at the tee. In the field, some watch the batter, while others may talk to a nearby base runner. Some play with the infield dirt or work out their destructive urges by ripping up the grass.
Attention spans, while short, don't accurately portray how much these kids have looked forward to opening day.
``He told me to make sure I had all his stuff set out this morning,'' said Sue Llano of her son's Friday night directive.
Matthew Llano, 6, was dressed and ready to play at 7 a.m.
As picturesque as the fields may be, during the middle of the week, the opening of the complex was in jeopardy.
``We've come a long way since Wednesday night,'' said Lee Gehres, field director for the Bronco division and father to 6-year-old Kaylin, the only girl on the Shetland Athletics team. ``The grass was high, and there were rocks all over the fields.''
According to Web Gridley, the Charlton-Mott land coordinator, much of the last-minute rush could be directly attributed to Mother Nature.
``Last summer was a wet summer, and it threw everything behind,'' he said.
Womack Contractors didn't finish developing the land until recently, which limited the amount of work that could be done to prepare the actual playing surfaces. Gridley, who ``scheduled vacation this week because I knew it would be a push,'' was assisted by approximately 75 volunteers as the days ticked down.
Among other duties, grass had to be ripped out of the infields, and all the base pegs had to be anchored in concrete.
Most people at the complex on opening day had no idea just how tight the schedule was. Running water was installed and outfield fences were completed just hours before the players took the fields for the first time.
``It's been tough,'' Gridley admitted. ``But there are a lot of parents who, when it comes down to brass tacks, they're going to see to it that the work gets done so the kids have a place to play.''
After several days of overcast skies, the sun broke through for opening day. A positive sign? A blessing in disguise?
Unfortunately, at the complex, that wasn't the case.
There is no place to escape the relentless exposure to the sun, for the players or the fans. The dugouts aren't covered, and there are no buildings on site to duck into for a quick cooling off.
Because the complex is built on what was once a soybean field, there isn't a respectable shade tree in sight. Several beet-faced children romped in what was, for them, knee-high grass, seemingly unaware of the sun and heat.
According to Fulford, his organization simply ran out of funding.
Money is what it takes to build a brand new, first class baseball complex. From the beginning, Great Bridge Baseball didn't have enough of it.
The Charlton-Mott Youth Complex, upon completion, was to cost an estimated $1.2 million. After membership drives, fund-raisers, and corporate sponsorships, Great Bridge Baseball had raised only $620,000.
The land off Eason Road set the organization back $180,000. Site development was the biggest expense, ringing up a bill of $340,000. Surveying and permits tacked on another $70,000.
``We've done all we can do right now,'' Fulford said. Building will continue as funds permit. ``We'll use it as soon as it comes in.''
The next expense for the complex will be lights for the five enclosed fields, a cost of $125,000.
``You've got to remember that the city has nothing to do with this,'' said Iannatti of the complex's funding. ``This is an entirely private-run organization.''
Fulford was quick to point out that while the ``land development account is depleted, the money as far as the operating budget is fine. We don't mix the two. We don't want to jeopardize the program.''
For members of the Bronco Braves, very little was wrong with the complex on opening day.
``These are nicer fields,'' said Stephen Downs, 12. ``We only had two places to play last year.''
``We didn't expect there to be so many fields,'' said Jack Justice Jr., 10. ``All our other fields are beside schools. This way there won't be so many teams' games crammed in next to each other.''
Nathan Klemstine, 12, knew what was most important about the Charlton-Mott fields.
``Shorter fences,'' he said.
Several of the players' parents, seeing the complex through the filter of adult expectations, were disappointed.
``I think they've got a lot more to do,'' said Sue Llano. ``It'll be nice once it's finished, but I didn't know it was going to be like this. That's why we didn't bring chairs - we thought there'd be bleachers.''
``The kids are taking it the way they're supposed to. They're not getting into the politics. But they should still be able to get out of the sun and have a place to sit down,'' said Jack Justice Sr.
Some parents fastened old sheets to the sides of dugout fences to provide a bit of shade.
``They could have had it a lot more organized than they did,'' Justice added. ``I didn't even know where the field was.''
Misplaced fields were a significant problem on opening day. Doris Lambert stopped midway between the two sets of fields, searching for the blue uniforms of son Dwayne's Pony Royals team.
Dwayne, a blank look on his face, didn't seem to mind. He was probably one of the few kids who wasn't excited about baseball season.
``It's all right,'' he said.
Dwayne Lambert - with RecSpecs peering beneath his cap - much prefers basketball.
``I make him and my other son participate in sports,'' Doris Lambert said by way of explanation.
The Lamberts finally tracked down someone with a schedule and found that their game was out at the isolated Pony field.
Dwayne Lambert - who was not looking forward to this at all, really - sprinted out to meet his teammates.
There are 126 teams in the Great Bridge Baseball organization, by far its largest total, and that figure doesn't even include six Colt division teams that have yet to begin play.
Fulford is the first to admit that the Charlton-Mott Youth Complex, in its present state, falls short of what Great Bridge Baseball envisioned. Whether the organization's expectations were too high to begin with, or if there has been a specter of mismanagement, is a subject that is open to debate.
There is no questioning, however, whether the people who were to benefit most from the complex - the children of Great Bridge - are satisfied.
``Heyyyyyy, battahbattahbattah sa-WING!!,'' cried a chorus of sing-song voices from a Bronco game.
All of the players - even the one who just struck out - were smiling. ILLUSTRATION: [Cover]
[Color Photo]
OPENING DAY
Kyle Mack of the Pinto League's Marlins takes a swing.
Joe Wrightson and his son Cody wait for the games to begin.
Staff photos by STEVE EARLEY
The Padres of the Shetland League loosen up in a field of tall
grass. ON THE COVER: Michael Donnelly pitches on opening day at the
new Charlton-Mott Youth Complex off Eason Road.
Staff photos by STEVE EARLEY
Opposing pitchers Keith Williams of the Padres and Michael Donnelly
of the Marlins throw out the ceremonial first pitches of a Bronco
League game.
There are no bleachers yet, so fans made do.
by CNB