The summer ball program was the main topic of conversation at Wednesday’s meeting of the Trenton Park Board, where the future of TBA and the need for regulation baseball fields were discussed.
Curtis Crawford, who is the chairman of a committee tasked with establishing rules and regulations for the Trenton ballfields, presented information on a fee structure that changes the cost of playing from a “per-player” basis to a “per-game” basis. Board members voted to set the cost of games at VanMeter Park at $15, with the cost of games at both Moberly Park fields at $20 and the cost at Burleigh Grimes and the Ebbe Sports Complex (Johnson and Griffin fields) at $25 per game. If steps are taken to prepare the field due to rain that day, there will be an extra charge. These fees are for youth leagues only, meaning those whose players are under the age of 18. The fees for city league, church league, etc., will be set at a later date.
That was the easy part of the discussion. What came next was what to do with the future of TBA which, according to the minutes of a Feb. 12, 1997 meeting, was dissolved at that time with the park department taking over financial responsibilities of the organization and being in charge of umpires, concessions, etc. The questions that did not seem to get answered at the meeting was if TBA is part of the park department or not and if TBA teams have priority over traveling teams and others that wish to use the ballfields during the regular TBA season. TBA volunteers Christy Tolson and Jenny Hunter were at the meeting and said that it is becoming increasingly difficult for the few volunteers to organize and run the program, which had 250 kids who played 105 games last year. She said scheduling has become very difficult with more teams vying for the fields for practice time and games and many of those teams not being affiliated with TBA. Mrs. Tolson stressed that one benefit of TBA is that it gives athletes who cannot be a part of a traveling team, whether that be due to talent level or finances, the chance to play in a recreational league.
Mrs. Tolson said a meeting has been scheduled for today with an attorney to see what the next step should be as far as TBA is concerned and the discussion will continue from that point.
The park board was next presented with the reality that there are boys who wish to play baseball, but Trenton does not currently have any fields that meet the requirements of most leagues. Adam McAtee said there are boys for three age groups of teams – 10-and-under, 12-and-under and 13-and-under – but the distances between the bases on the fields is not enough to allow them to play sanctioned games. He said the required distance for the 10-and-under teams is 65 feet, while the distance for the 12-and-under is 70 feet and 13-and-under is 80 feet. The distance at the Ebbe Complex is 60 feet and while Burleigh Grimes Field has a distance of 90 feet, the grass infield poses a problem in moving the bases.
With the introduction of baseball as a high school sport at Trenton next spring, it is expected that more boys will begin playing summer ball and McAtee said right now his teams would have to go to Chillicothe to practice and play their home games. McAtee and Park Superintendent Jason Shuler will meet to see if there is a way to modify Johnson or Griffin fields to accommodate baseball for the younger age groups. Robert Shields also told the board that it would be a benefit for the city to become affiliated with one of the national organizations such as Little League, Ban Johnson, Cal Ripken, etc., rather than have only local rules and guidelines.
There was yet more baseball talk at the meeting, with the board approving a request from Doug Doughty, general manager of the Chillicothe Mudcats baseball team, to hold a game at Burleigh Grimes Field on July 13 or 14. This would be the fourth year the team has played a game in Trenton and Doughty said that time frame would be in the middle of an eight-game homestand for the summer wood bat league. He said the Mudcats have had 60 players drafted into the major leagues, with former player Caleb Joseph playing for the Baltimore Orioles and Michael Marriott going between the Kansas City Royals and its minor league team in Omaha. Doughty noted that Trenton native Austin Norris is expected to be a part of this year’s team. He said that a scout with the Philadelphia Phillies has asked if Norris, a pitcher, would be playing so the team could take another look at him. Doughty and Shuler will work together to select the date of the game.
In other business, officers were elected, with Duane Helmandollar elected president and Crawford elected vice president. Daniel Gott was elected to serve as secretary, although Vicki Weaver will continue to be paid to attend the meetings and take the official minutes. Board members welcomed new board member Lynda Lynch and recognized the service of Don Altes, who has resigned.
In his report, Shuler said the walls have been poured and the trusses set for the shop building addition and noted that renovation of the women’s restroom at the Rock Barn has begun. One snow plow was repaired and the disc golf equipment will be installed as weather permits. He indicated that he and Assistant Park Superintendent Don Kennedy will be attending the annual Missouri Parks and Recreation Association Conference later this month in Columbia.
The next regular meeting of the board is scheduled for Wednesday, March 2.
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