Now that the series is over, the work begins
Now that the Pony League World Series is complete, it’s a good time to discuss a few issues presenting itself to PONY baseball.
A sitdown with Nathan Voytek, president of Tournaments Inc. and the man who is transitioning into the spot once held by Bob Gregg.
He is a man with some plans.
“There are three things on my master plan: adjusting the road. Swinging the road out would give us more room for the concourse,” said Voytek. “Maybe do something to add to the other concession stand. The pressbox is 1A on the list.”
A lot of wasted space is taken up behind the midsection wall of the pressbox.
“We would move the dugouts down the lines,” said Voytek. “It would be more traditional dugouts, like the ones at at PNC Park.”
Voytek said he envisions two suites on the seond floor.
“We have some preliminary drawings from the contractor on what that would look like, making it more useable, functional,” Voytek said. “We’re pretty far away from home plate. We want to create more traffic.”
And Voytek said the third project on his to-do list is to install artificial turf on the infield and outfield.
“That will be a lot of money,” Voytek said. “The grants are one piece, Pirate Charities have taken an interest and there are other larger groups.”
Voytek said there has been discussion about moving the tournament to Wild Things Park, but there would be many hurdles to clear and he is not in favor of it.
“There’s 25 challenges,” said Voytek. “First of all, the field isn’t the right size, no bases, the mound, there is a team that uses the field, the Wild Things. You’d have to retrofit the field. PONY just isn’t going to let you throw up (plastic) fences. The mound needs to be moved.”
Voytek said the signage on the outfield fences would have to come down, especially any that promotes liquor sales.
“I can tell you that none of the members of my board has an interest in that,” said Voytek. “We’ll be talking about it. I get why some would like it moved. The parking is better, you can have a concert when the games are through, and all that. Ultimately, it’s PONY’s decision.”
Voytek makes a good point about Lew Hays Pony Field.
“How many minor league fields are there? Hundreds? How many Pony League fields are there? One. Now, if the Wild Things leave town and we can retrofit it, it would work,” he said.
Voytek said there would be sure to have disagreements on who would get the concessions money and the souvenir money.
“I just think there are a lot more challenges than saying, ‘Just go out to Wild Things park and play.'”
Voytek said Lew Hays Pony Field and its out buildings would deteriorate if PONY didn’t have the series on site.
Voytek said the support by Dick’s Sporting Goods and the ability to broadcast games on AT&T Sports Net have given the series a tremendous boost. So has the Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency and the Washington County Community Foundation, which together raised enough money to keep the television coverage on par with before.
As always, the tournament relies on the volunteer work of hundreds of people.
Rain was a problem this year and Mark Murphy and his grounds crew were invaluable to keeping the field in playing condition.
And the question came up as the rain fell down: Why not get a tarp to cover the infield. PONY already has two small tarps for the pitcher’s mound and home plate.
“You would need about 40 people to take it on and pull it off,” Murphy said.
Murphy said artificial turf would relieve the use of about 5 1/2 tons of calcimitic clay, which sucks up the water. Murphy said he has had as much as 20 tons donated, but this year only five.
Murphy said a new tarp would cost between $6,000 and $8,000 and there would be problems to solve.
“When you put it away for the winter, mice get in it and eat holes in it,” said Murphy.