East Bay

Ready for Little League opening day

The county steps up to the plate to hit a home run with improved ball fields and facilities at Vance Vogel Park.

By JANET ZINK
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 14, 2003

EAST BAY -- In a perfect world, the first pitches of the East Bay Little League season would be thrown Saturday morning.

But this is a world where paint peels, birds destroy wooden light poles and county government moves at a slow pace without the persistent prompting.

The result: 800 baseball players on the League's 50-plus teams won't be on ball fields at Vance Vogel Park until Feb. 22.

When they do start, though, they'll be playing in a park that's undergone a $565,000 facelift. That's thanks to the tireless efforts of Debbie Carlisle, president of East Bay Little League, which encompasses neighborhoods in the corner of the county bordered by the Alafia River and Bell Shoals, Boyette and Balm-Boyette roads.

Carlisle addressed the Hillsborough County Commission three times to urge them to make improvements to the park. She also spent many hours at the park, consulting with contractors and organizing teams of parents moving clay and sand to the fields.

Now, the concession stands, dug-outs, scorekeeper boxes and other buildings have fresh coats of paint, there's new fencing, and one baseball field was turned into two, bringing the total number of fields to seven. Plus, a full-time grounds and building supervisor has been hired for the park and two full-time maintenance people are also scheduled to be on staff.

"If you'd seen the park before and you come and look at it now, it's overwhelming," Carlisle says.

Getting to this point wasn't easy.

The battle began two years ago when East Bay Little League leaders complained to the county that Vance Vogel Park, where the league practices and plays its games, desperately needed an overhaul. The park, just north of Big Bend Road and east of Interstate 75, had been built nearly 30 years ago largely through donations and with the help of volunteers. Now, the light poles, made wobbly by woodpeckers and age, were falling over.

In October, just three weeks after being named president of the league, Carlisle went to a town hall meeting sponsored by the County Commission and once again asked to have the park upgraded.

The County Commission approved funding for repairs, and the park was closed while the light poles were removed. That meant night games had to be canceled for the rest of the season.

"I just really wanted to play baseball," says Isaac Hutchinson, 9, of that time.

He spent those weeks practicing his throwing and catching with his dad, Tim.

Carlisle was told the park would be ready for the start of the spring Little League season on Feb. 15.

But the work was slow going.

Carlisle appeared two more times before the County Commission, the last time in mid-January.

"We need you to do something," Carlisle told the board. "We need you to roll your sleeves up."

Finally, electricians began installing new lights.

But while ball players in the county's other Little Leagues were practicing in their parks, the 4-to-18-year-olds in East Bay Little League had to travel to other parts of the county or make do with the Vance Vogel football field to work on their catching, throwing, running and batting.

"There are no bases or anything and no fences to stop the balls," says 12-year-old Little Leaguer Richard Berning of the football field practices.

Without fences to stop the balls, the players have to run farther to chase stray balls.

"That's a pain in the neck," says 8-year-old Robert Berning.

The repairs seemed to be on schedule until Feb. 5 when Himes Electric, the company hired to install the lights told Carlisle that it wouldn't be able to meet the deadline.

Coincidentally, just a few hours later, Hillsborough County Commissioner Pat Frank called Carlisle to check on the park's progress. She made a trip to the park the next morning to learn first hand about the delays.

Himes assured Frank that the lights would go up by Saturday, even if he had to work around the clock.

"Since then, honey, they have bombarded this park. There are people there constantly now," Carlisle says.

Still, not convinced the deadline would be met, Carlisle postponed the start of the season by one week.

The Family Fun Day that traditionally marks the opening of the East Bay Little League season has been rescheduled to March 1, "just to make sure we have electricity to run the rides and have lights and stuff," Carlisle says.

When opening day finally arrives, Hutchinson predicts he'll feel "Awesome.

"I've been waiting a long time."