LANSING, Mich. — As if playing baseball during the pandemic isn't hard enough, a local youth team is getting another curve ball thrown at them.
Thursday, the Legends baseball team discovered someone broke into the shed where they store their equipment.
Doors were damaged and are unable to close, and the shed is now empty after nearly $5,000 worth of equipment was stolen this week.
“We just put a dead bolt on, but as you can see this is all kicked in,” coach Darrick Alvarez said.
Notably missing from the shed: the team’s new weed wacker and zero-turn Cub Cadet.
Players raised money for the equipment for months.
“It was pretty hard to earn that,” 11-year-old baseball player, Gavin Alvarez, said. “Everybody had to go door to door and sell tickets.”
The Legends have a partnership to use Portt Field with the condition that they can take care of the field.
Without their equipment, the team is worried they can’t keep up.
“We are in the middle of the woods, you let the grass get long, the snakes mice everything starts taking over,” Darrick said. “The deterioration will start happening.”
Darrick said long grass, unkempt mounds, ungroomed fields are also dangerous for the players.
“Grass could be up to our ankles and it could hurt if we don’t have it mowed,” Gavin said.
If the field becomes unusable, the Legends season could get cut short, something which Darrick said would be heartbreaking, especially in the middle of a pandemic.
“This is way more than just mowing some grass and raking a field,” he said. “It allows us to do a game that helps them take their mind of things.”
“It just means a lot,” Gavin said.
The team plans to play and practice while the grass is at a safe length. Depending on the weather, that could change by next week.
In the meantime, the team is asking for the community’s help for access equipment. Those interested in donating can contact Legends baseball at slybglegends@gmail.com or by calling 517-582-0812.
Ingham County Sheriff’s Office is currently conducting an investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact Lorenzo Solito at 517-676-8444, ex. 1917, or lsolito@ingham.org.
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