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Last updated on Tuesday, April 9, 2013
(GEORGETOWN) - Less than two weeks before the season starts, thefts and vandalism have left Georgetown Little League with no lights on three baseball diamonds and two broken scoreboards, a league official said Monday.
"I can't imagine doing anything worse, at least to a Little League," said Dave Weadock, the league's vice president. " 'Disappointing' is just about the best word for it."
Archie Ingersoll of The Journal Gazette reports the league, which plays on fields at Trier and Maplecrest, is not alone. At least two other baseball leagues have recently reported similar damage to the Fort Wayne police.
In the case of Georgetown Little League, someone cut and removed the wiring from poles that light the fields. Also, two scoreboards were disabled, three holes were cut in fences, electrical boxes were damaged, and the base of a cellphone tower on the property was broken into, as was a press box, Weadock said.
"They actually broke through the wall to get to" the press box, he said, adding that nothing appeared to have been stolen from that building.
It's believed the damage happened late Saturday or early Sunday, and the league filed a report with police Sunday evening. Weadock could not put a dollar figure on the damage but said it would require extensive repairs.
"The Little League board's time and resources are now going toward facility repair," league president Kevin Fenn said in a message on the league's Facebook page.
Fenn asked families to come to the fields Saturday to help prepare them for the league's opening day April 20. He also requested that anyone able to fix electrical systems or fencing call Nik Gigli at 409-7926.
Brian Klein, vice president of Northeast Little League Softball, said his league reported a similar theft of electrical wiring at two diamonds at Maplecrest and Evard roads last month. Repairing the damage cost about $3,500, he said.
Bob Podschlne, president of Wallen Baseball, said that in the past two weeks, someone pried open electrical boxes apparently to steal copper at fields near Wallen and Lima roads. He said the damage broke a couple of light poles.
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