Oak Hill baseball fields damaged, games suspended [Austin American-Statesman]

Oct. 15--The weekend storm has forced an Oak Hill baseball and softball league to suspend its season as organizers figure out what to do with their flood-damaged fields.

"It's crazy. Unfortunately, it looks like with the rain we're still getting, it's not the worst of it," Oak Hill Youth Sports Association President Stephen Bega said Monday.

The flood uprooted trees, swept debris into 4-foot high piles along fences, dug several-inch-deep craters into the infields, washed away the crushed granite and gravel from parts of the parking lot and "moved a trash Dumpster from one end of the facility to the other," Bega said.

Williamson Creek, which runs along the league's 18-acre facility south of U.S. 290 near William Cannon Drive, experienced some of the most intense surges from the late-Saturday, early-Sunday storm that dropped as much as a foot of rain in parts of Austin.

Because the facility's eight fields are in the creek's floodplain, Bega said he is not optimistic that their insurance will cover much, if any, of the damage. Bega said a few contractors whose children are in the league estimated the damage to cost $75,000 to $100,000 to repair.

A handful of other Austin-area leagues have offered use of their facilities, and Bega said he grateful for the offers and hopes to have the teams playing again.

"Obviously this (flood) is an unprecedented event for us," Bega said. The offers of help from other leagues "have been a great resource for us, and that's how we plan to continue with our season."

Bega said the Dripping Springs, Manchaca, Hays, Western Hills, Cedar Park and Lake Travis leagues have all offered use of their space through the end of this season, which ends in mid-November. He hopes to have them playing within a week.

The Oak Hill league has about 750 players, boys and girls ages 5 to 16.

The league plans to host a community meeting Thursday night, but Bega said they're still figuring out where. Bega said people who aren't even affiliated with the league have offered to help either by offering services or donations.

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