Little League play set to launch

By Tom Williams

BOARDMAN — When the Little League District 2 tournaments get under way this week, an experiment will be launched. For the first time, all Little League district playoff games will be contested at the same site — Boardman Community Baseball’s Fields of Dreams.

“This will be the first time Little League has had the boys games hosted all at one site,” said Tim Kaple, BCB president. “It’s very exciting for us.

“We’re committed to keep the fields in good shape and they know they are going to play on quality fields,” said Kaple, who added that the format is an experiment — “a little bit of trial basis to see how it goes.”

Why Boardman? For one thing, it’s centrally located for just about every visiting team.

“It’s not that far away for anybody,” Kaple said of the 14-year-old complex on McClurg Road that has 20 fields. “July here is a busy month.

“We have the staff to make sure the place is ready to go, we have quality concession business,” Kaple said. “You don’t have to worry about getting your volunteers out, we have that covered.”

Kaple admitted that some of the league presidents “asked why we would want to do this. The end result is that many communities are finished with baseball when their [recreational] seasons are over. We’re not.”

This year, Little League has two softball brackets: ages 11-12 and 9-10. The older bracket kicks off Little League play on Monday with two games: Canfield vs. Howland and Struthers vs. Poland.

Girard and Boardman will play Monday’s winners on Tuesday in the double-elimination tournament that should end on July 15. The winning team will advance to the state tournament at Ironton.

Five teams are entered in the 9-10 bracket that opens on July 13 with Canfield playing Boardman. The district champion will travel to Conneaut for the state tournament.

Baseball has three age groups. The 11-12 bracket has nine teams and opens pool play with four games on Wednesday. Teams are divided into two divisions. Communities represented are Boardman (two teams), Howland, Canfield, Girard, Austintown, Poland, Campbell and Struthers.

Their state tournament will be in Tallmadge.

The 10-11 bracket has six teams and pool play will begin on Thursday. Their state tournament will be at Chesapeake.

The 9-10 bracket has nine teams and begins pool play on Thursday. The state tournament will be contested in Cambridge.

williams@vindy.com