LOCKWOOD — It's not time to play ball, but when damage occurs at the Lockwood Little League fields during the winter, it makes an impact.
Over the weekend, a driver (or drivers) used the parking lots at the Little League fields to drive around and do donuts, causing uneven ground.
“I don’t think they’re trying to be malicious. I think they’re just out having fun and they don’t necessarily realize the impact of what they’re leaving for us to clean up,” Lockwood Little League board member Kirby Hubbs said on Monday. “Just the same thing that always happens down here.”
Hubbs said it won't be difficult to fix the parking lot, but it will take time.
“It’s not a big deal. You just got to bring a skid steer down and knock the edges down, but it’s the time that that takes. It’s 10 hours of somebody’s time. Ten hours of fuel to come down here and get it leveled back out so that when families are coming in here they’re not bouncing their kids out the windows,” Hubbs said.
The biggest problem the fields face is how often the damage occurs, with volunteers repeatedly having to repair the parking lot or clean up major debris left behind after the Fourth of July.
“We had a dumpster catch on fire because some fireworks were not properly disposed of, and it’s just a wreck out here after the Fourth of July comes and that seems to be getting worse,” Hubbs said. “We’ll be posting field clean-up days here pretty soon and come down and give us a hand.”
Maranda Schelle has lived across the street from the fields for 38 years. She said she's seen an increase in people being there at night over the last five years.
“Nowadays, you just have all these people driving around doing brodies. Thinking they’re cool at 3 o’clock in the morning,” Schelle said. “I mean, it takes a lot of time for them to come out here and do what they got to do and keep this up for the kids to play baseball.”
