PORT CARBON, Pa. -- A Little League field in one Schuylkill County borough that was hit hard by flooding last summer is in need of repairs.
2019 is supposed to be a year of celebration in Port Carbon. It marks 60 years of Little League baseball in this Schuylkill County borough. Unfortunately, the field of dreams for so many youngsters is in need of several repairs.
"The biggest need we have right now is our dugouts," Jason Crews, social media director for Port Carbon Little League said. "Both sides need to be replaced. Our retaining wall that we have needs to be replaced as well."
A 2018 summer full of wild weather is the root cause of those problems. Port Carbon was crushed with flooding last year, and Shoentown American Fire Company Field suffered.
So far in the young season, one game has already been moved to a different field due to safety concerns.
"We have a great facility here," Clews said. "We have a tee ball field. We have our Little League fields. We have basketball courts. We have a great environment for our kids to really grow and build those relationships and learn the game and develop a love for the game, so we just want to create a safe environment for them."
"We reopened our concession stand with great food, trying to bring more money in," said Emilie Martin, whose son plays Little League ball in Port Carbon. "The surrounding area is helping us out, donating, putting up their signs. Hopefully, we can get it up and by the end of this year we can get some new dugouts and get the field up to par."
"We've reached out to Little League International and applied for grants, which they've been wonderful and have given us some money toward that," Crews added.
A GoFundMe page has been started to raise money for those repairs.