Vandals Ruin Laingsburg Youth Baseball Fields

Let me begin by saying that I love the game of baseball. It was an important game for me when I was growing up. It taught me fundamentals. It taught me how to work as a team. It also created a dream for me to play MLB baseball. Team sports are important for social aspects.

Last year my son decided he wanted to play baseball. It was a welcome sound to my ears. I embraced the moment and volunteered to coach one of the U10 baseball teams along with Coach Ray Cole, Coach Tim Casey and Coach Eric. We went undefeated for the 2022 season and the kids were proud of themselves. The boys built confidence throughout the season and that was the reward.

Unlike many surrounding communities that have staff and a budget to maintain their atheltic fields, Laingsburg is grass roots. All of the funds raised is done by the kids and the baseball board. All of the work on the fields is done by parents and the players. It is a volunteer situation. All hands on deck. Laingsburg is a community of folks that care about our kids and want them to have the chance to play ball this year.

Unfortunately on the morning of New Year's Eve 2022 it was discovered that the youth fields in Laingsburg had been vadalized by some sort of four wheel vehicle. See the destruction below.

Some may look at this and think "easy fix". Truth is, it's not. Now we must raise funds to pay for the damage to be repaired so the kids have a place to play. I cannot begin to tell you how disrespectful this is to the kids, parents and community of Laingsburg.

Sarah Cole summed it up:

Coaches have chimed in too. Coach Ray Cole says:

I am pretty upset and feel bad for the kids that worked their butts off to get the fields prepped for last season and for the upcoming season.It is so disappointing that someone would do this to a community park.

Coach Tim Casey says:

When vandalization of property like this occurs it impacts the community in several different ways. The most obvious affect it has, is on the kids' ablility to use the field when baseball season starts. More work will need to be done to restore the fields to playing condition again. This will require more people to donate time, labor and money. For many families those resources are stretched thin. More importantly it could teach kids that working hard and sacrificing their time ultimately isn't worth the effort because some careless individual will come along and ruin something they worked hard for anyway.

THIS IS SHAMEFUL AND A DISGRACE. SHAME ON YOU FOR CRUSHING DREAMS!

I spoke with Dan Dekorte with the Laingsburg police department and he says:

The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information and the guts to share it should contact the Laingsburg Police Department at (517) 651-5355. Do the right thing.