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<div class="headline">CENTRAL POINT LITTLE LEAGUE</div>
<h1 class="headline">Rain delay &#8212; and then some</h1>
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			<div class="bylineText"><span class="by">By </span><span class="byline">Buffy Pollock</span></div>
		
	
	
	
	
	<div class="bylineExtra">for the Mail Tribune</div>
<div class="bylineDate"><span>April 16, 2012 - 2:00 AM<span></div>


<p class="articleGraf">CENTRAL POINT &#8212; Rather than practice pitching or batting on a recent afternoon, ballplayers in Central Point Little League grabbed rakes and shovels to help clean up.</p><p class="articleGraf">Several games were canceled this week and players left to hope the weather would dry out, and that parent volunteers would figure out a way to bring the fields up to par.</p><p class="articleGraf">Recent showers left the diamonds at 2935 Hanley Road covered in large puddles, with muddy grooves in the parking lot.</p><p class="articleGraf">Adding insult to injury, a handful of thefts at fields since November have robbed the 400-plus player league of money and groundskeeping equipment. Between November and March, the league lost a safe containing some $400.</p><p class="articleGraf">In recent months, a lawnmower with a grass-catching unit and a four-wheeler used to drag the fields before and after games also were stolen.</p><p class="articleGraf">Then, a 48-inch grass sweeper, used to level playing surfaces and remove debris and grass from fields between games, was found vandalized. Its wheels were removed, making it unusable.</p><p class="articleGraf">"They left us the sweeper but they took the wheels," said Mark Morrison, league vice president, as he surveyed the fields with league President Silas Qualls following several days of canceled games.</p><p class="articleGraf">"We've got duck puddles on every field," Morrison said.</p><p class="articleGraf">"Without the grass catcher, we have the kids playing in clumps of grass. It's not the best situation."</p><p class="articleGraf">Qualls said the league, which is a nonprofit organization, just barely breaks even most years.</p><p class="articleGraf">"We've got fewer sponsorships than in years past," said Qualls. "We appreciate the sponsors we do have, but we have a lot of past sponsors who have had to scale back, so we're really feeling that."</p><p class="articleGraf">While rain often has been an issue for the old fields on the outskirts of town, Morrison said the sweeper and four-wheeler enabled volunteers to drag the fields, removing water and leveling the field.</p><p class="articleGraf">Kiel Sankey, a 10-year-old who plays for the Central Point Little League Angels team, arrived Thursday afternoon in his uniform, excited to play.</p><p class="articleGraf">Within minutes, he was told the game had been canceled.</p><p class="articleGraf">"This game tonight was gonna be our first game, and we've all been looking forward for our first games," said Kiel.</p><p class="articleGraf">"We found out they canceled it, so it was like, 'Uuugghhhh! Why did it have to rain this day and why did our stuff get stolen?' "</p><p class="articleGraf">The boy's father, Central Point resident Eddie Sankey, has watched his sons play ball on the fields for five years.</p><p class="articleGraf">Field conditions have never been ideal, he said, but the thefts and reduced community support have aggravated the problem.</p><p class="articleGraf">"With the way weather is in Southern Oregon, it's always somewhat questionable," Sankey said.</p><p class="articleGraf">"But, since everything's been stolen, the fields are a lot worse this year than in years past. It's sad for the kids. It'd be nice if the community could step up and help out."</p><p class="articleGraf">Qualls, who played on the fields as a boy in the early 1980s, said he hoped the community and league alumni would help ensure the field remains usable.</p><p class="articleGraf">While donations and sponsorships to the league would be gratefully accepted, Qualls said donations of landscaping equipment and volunteer help are equally needed.</p><p class="articleGraf">"We're really just trying to get the community more involved with what we're doing out here," said Qualls.</p><p class="articleGraf">"And we want to keep this going so it's around for years to come for our grandkids and such. It's important for the community to have a safe place for our kids to be."</p><p class="articleGraf">Buffy Pollock is a freelance writer living in Medford. Email her at <a href="mailto:buffypollock@juno.com">buffypollock@juno.com</a>.</p><br>



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