The Benton Little League community is thankful just to have a field to play on.
"I know my son was so upset," Benton Little League parent and volunteer Natalie Wilson said. "He wasn't sure if he would be able to play baseball again this season. So, for them to be out there and running around and doing what they're doing right now is definitely something that's special for them."
Last month, an EF2 tornado left its mark on Benton and this facility. The equipment shed? Well, it's not much of a shed anymore. That brand new scoreboard? Toast, just two days after they put it up. The concession stand? Now, it's more of a patio and you can see what's left of the dugouts.
"These dugouts have stood for decades and decades," Benton Little League parent and assistant coach Ken Lewis recalled. "I played in some of them. I was in some of them for some of our games and to watch them blow away into a field was just shocking."
"To show up and see the devastation, no concession stand, no scoreboard, dugouts blown apart, it was a very sad moment for this little town," Benton Little League parent and board member Pamela Yost added.
But that little town went right to work. Parents and volunteers cleaned the place up and in less than two weeks, the fields were playable again, putting this whole ordeal in perspective.
"It was just a baseball field, just rodeo grounds, things like that," Lewis said. "It could have been so much worse."
"Hopefully this will give a good life lesson of how if we all pitch in and work together, great things happen," Yost added.
To help pay for all of these repairs, the Benton Little League set up this GoFundMe page.