Flooding damages Pine Island fields

Jul. 6--All of the recent rain has washed away some of the positive vibes that have been happening with the Pine Island athletic facilities in 2019.

Among the improvements this spring the baseball field had lights installed for the first time and new varsity and junior varsity softball fields were built.

But last Thursday the town was hit with about seven inches of rain, which caused flooding. The varsity baseball field received some damage, the backstop at the junior varsity baseball field was destroyed and final coating of clay on the two softball fields were washed away.

"It was kind of a (mess), but we're slowing starting to dry out," Pine Island baseball coach Dan Drazan said. "The JV (baseball) field took the worst of it."

The water was so high at the varsity baseball field that it reached nearly to the top of the dugouts at its highest level. But the new electrical box for the lights was up high enough that it remained safe.

"We've had some issues with flooding in the past so they put it (the electrical box) up a little higher," Drazan said.

The baseball field also has new grandstand and pressbox, but Drazan said those were not damaged "only coated in mud."

Drazan is also the coach of Pine Island's American Legion summer baseball team. The team did not have a home game scheduled for the past week. It's next home game is scheduled Tuesday. The Pine Island Pioneers, the town's amateur baseball team, and the Junior American Legion team are both slated to have home games on Sunday.

Pine Island activities director Craig Anderson said an insurance adjuster can not come to take a look at the damage until Monday, so all the home games this weekend have been postponed.

"We have to play the waiting game now with the insurance adjusters," Drazan said.

The JV baseball field and the softball fields will need to be repaired. The batting cages at the softball field were also severely damaged. Drazan did not have a timetable when the fields might be repaired.

"The varsity (baseball) field will be OK," Drazan said. "We just have to get out the crusty mud."

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