In baseball and softball, it means getting fields ready for the upcoming season – which is exactly what happened recently at Lexington Memorial Park, where everyone got the chance to bat clean up.
“We’re going to be getting the fields cleaned up,” said Raymond Lombardi, a baseball parent who brought his son Lincoln with him.
On this spring Monday, it was all hands on deck as players, coaches and parents from the Centennial Lakes baseball and softball programs were getting fields into tip top condition.
“I’m scraping the leaves into a pile,” Lincoln said.
“We’re gonna get all these leaves around the field cleaned up and maybe pull up some dandelions,” Raymond said. “I think it’s just an opportunity for everybody to work together and pitch in and get to know one another.”
“We want to see all the leaves gone and all the sticks gone,” said softball coach Jeremy Hugger. “So that when the kids come out for their first game the fields are in great shape to play ball.”
“It’s very cool”
An impressive contingent of volunteers showed up at the Lexington ballparks.
“It’s very cool,” said Sophia Mooney, a softball player. “I just like to be out here.”
They came with rakes, Hefty bags and leaf blowers.
Said Raymond: “All the teams from t-ball and little league are gonna be cleaning the various fields today.”
Some coaches and parents believe that getting players involved in the clean up makes them take ownership of their facility.
“I want it to look nicer than it was before and I want to have good playing conditions,” Mooney said. “It’s really important because you don’t want to get hurt and you don’t want to trip over anything or sprain an ankle.”
Said Hugger: “They tend to respect the fields a little more when they’re the ones who have to clean up the mess that we make during the season.”
“It’s important to teach kids the responsibility of maintaining something as well as having fun,” Raymond said.
Opening day was April 26 through 28. This season there are over 800 players in the Centennial Lakes baseball and softball programs.
