Players from the 18u Showcase Max Impact baseball team move a bench at Coal Street Park in Wilkes-Barre. They are here as part of a summer community relations clean-up program. Taking care of the baseball field at Coal Street is their project.
"Basically this was their idea. The city issued us Coal Street Park for the entire summer. They knew that this place needed a lot of tender loving care. So they we're kind of joking about it say hey you I wish we could fix it up. I said hey you know what let me see what I can do," said Mike Pena.
So with a few rakes, some shovels, and teamwork the 12 members of Max Impact made a difference. Sean Paul Williamson from GAR likes the improvements.
"It means a real lot. It's nice to finally have somebody come down and work on the field and make it a little bit nicer. It's nice for us to come down and get something good going for our practice field. Hopefully it helps us out with the high-school season too," said Sean Paul Williamson.
This shortstop area here at Coal Street is so bad anytime it rains the water pools and collects here making this field unplayable.
"Some games get cancelled just because the field is bad. It's all wet. I hate getting games cancelled. I always want to play," said Aaron Yurko.
With the bench seating area cleaned up and dirt by the truckload deposited to short it was back to baseball for this bunch. Tournaments at Oswego State and "The Rock" are coming up.
"Team chemistry is a big thing when you can bring a team together off the field as well as on the field. That's very important. Once they're off the field and they start to click on the field that's something special to see," again said Mike.
"What are a couple of things you're looking forward to in those tournaments coming up? Hopefully we can pick up some wins and get some momentum going for the team and get to meet some coaches and get some guys playing some college ball. That would be nice," again said Sean Paul.