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STATE COLLEGE — It is not surprising that the State College Little League softball and baseball teams are again highly competitive in the 2022 District 5 tournaments.
The programs have been solid for years, and they are again vying for district honors at every level in both sports.
There has been one area, however, that LL Director Brian Zorger and the other program directors became aware of while looking ahead to the new year, and that was the condition of the Little League’s facilities for both baseball and softball.
After long years of use, it became apparent that the fields and facilities were badly in need of improvements as the teams looked toward 2022 and beyond.
So, Zorger, the other directors, a long list of volunteers, interested and generous businesses and some committed individuals got to work on a plan to upgrade the facilities and bring them up to date.
“The original idea was to create an experience for these kids and get them excited about playing,” Zorger said. “We also want to try to get more community involvement. We began to realize that other communities were investing in their Little Leagues and we needed to do the same to make sure our players have the best possible experiences.
“And one of the other big things that we wanted to make sure that we were doing was balancing the equality between the girls’ softball and the baseball,” Zorger continued. “So, we decided as a board to move the softball up to Sichler Fields with top facilities. Same scenario, to give the softball players the best possible experiences and get more kids excited about the game.”
The list of improvements that were done at Montressor Fields is extensive, but the major ones include a new scoreboard (courtesy of Sheetz Corp.); a new warning track; upgraded bull pens and dugouts; new foul poles; new paint in the press box, concession stands and the exteriors (courtesy of Sherwin Williams); and extensive work on the turf and infield.
For the softball facilities, there were new turf batting cages at Ferguson and API Field, beginning of a new batting cage at Sichler, bathrooms at Sichler, new flagpoles, new bullpens at API Field and a new warning track at API.
The business sponsors included Walker Equipment, Kissell Equipment, Burks Homes, Logan House Trucking, Natures Cover, TP Coal, Horizon Landscaping, Miller Welding, Ameron Construction, A+Collegiate Workforce and United Rentals. There were also cash donations from Dick’s Sporting Goods and Anthony and Rebecca Blasi.
There is also an extensive list of volunteers and helpers that work behind the scenes.
The goal of all of this, of course, was in the hope that everything done would contribute to a better experience for the Little League players, fans and parents.
Or, as Zorger put it, “More fun, more baseball, more softball, more community involvement, more great values taught and lots of smiles around the Little League platform.
