The Project

Background Information

As lovers of baseball, we're all very happy to see that the sport is getting more popular than ever in Easthampton. Unfortunately though, that popularity has also proved problematic. Because of the increasing numbers of people playing baseball and softball in Easthampton, field availability is at a premium. Little League has four teams that use the “90 foot” diamond, Mickey Mantle has two teams, Tri - County League has a team and Easthampton Post 224 Baseball has a team.

Post 224 Baseball does not have a place to call home. In the past two years we have had to play several of our “home” games at an away field, because there was no field available in Easthampton.

At times, we also find ourselves with no field to practice on, and end up having to take batting practice on open spaces like White Brook Middle School. This leaves Post 224 Baseball limited in training because there are not any bases or base paths. And that puts us at a disadvantage compared to the other teams we play.

There used to be five fields in Easthampton that could be used on a daily basis: Daley Field, Booster Field, “Area 3” had a field (Nonotuck Park), Carpenter Field (Williston Field, the old Galbraith Field) and White Brook Middle School had a 90 foot diamond.

But things have changed.

The White Brook Middle School field has grown over with grass and was used for soccer.

Daley Field can not be used everyday because of coed softball during our season. It can be used on the weekends and possibly one day a week.

Carpenter Field (Williston) is only available through June 12. That's when Williston starts its soccer camps and we lose access to the field. Unfortunately, that is also right about the exact same time as when Post 224 Baseball gets started with our games.

The “Area 3 Field” is now a 60 foot diamond, too small to be used by our program.

So this leaves Booster Field to use. As we all know, it's a wonderful field. The problem is that Booster is used by Easthampton Little League and the Mickey Mantle program every day, sometimes twice a day. And as it looks now, we will be able to play only two home games there this year, the same number as last year.

Last year, working with the Parks and Recreation Department, and thanks to some very creative scheduling, we were able to set up our home game schedule. But rained out games and playoff games were almost impossible to schedule.

In the past two years we have worked with The Parks and Recreation Department, City Hall and the School Department to find a place to call home for Post 224 Baseball.

After this lengthy search in Easthampton, during which we went as far as to consider building a field on private land, Post 224 Baseball has come up with a tentative plan. It will be costly, but it's also realistic. The plan calls for us to work with Little League and the Parks and Recreation Department to reconstruct and use Daley Field. This would allow baseball and softball to be played simultaneously at Daley, seven days a week. We also plan to cut in a 90' practice diamond at White Brook Middle School.

At this time, and after considerable research, we feel this plan makes the most sense for Post 224 Baseball and our community.

Please keep watch on our website for further progress and developments pertaining to this most ambitious effort. We hope you'll join with us in helping build our own field of dreams.

Post 224 Baseball Field Committee

Background Information

Our White Brook Middle School Field is about 95% done, a few small ends to take care of and we're ready for our practices this season.

Special Thanks to Mike and Pat Monahan for supplying tractor equipment and helping with the installation of the dirt areas at White Brook. Also thanks to Steve Perrier for helping us move dirt around and set up the bases.

One thing we have noticed is that other teams are already using the field for practice, (Little League), which is great to see kids out there learning and having fun with the game of baseball. We ask though that because of all the hard work that went into this field, the teams that use the field please rake the mound and batter's box areas before they leave so it's ready for us or the next team.

Tryouts for our Post 224 Baseball Team are May 13th and 14th at Booster Field from 1:00 to 3:30 p.m. Any player can tryout as long as they do not turn 20 years old in the calendar year 2006.

The Daley Field part of the project is moving forward. We hope to break ground at the end of August this year.

Thanks to all who have helped out with this project including the Parks and recreation Department and Easthampton Little League.

More info to follow!

Post 224 Baseball Field Committee

E-mail us at Post224baseball@msn.com