East Hampton Little League Unveils New Fields at Stephen Hands Path Recreational Facility During Opening Day Celebration

A project five years in the making was finally unveiled on Saturday when East Hampton Little League held its Opening Day on its brand new fields at Stephen Hands Path Recreational Facility in Wainscott.

All of the league’s 450-plus players from its baseball and softball divisions were on hand, along with their family and friends, to take in the new site that sits on 52 acres of land.

The players were paraded onto the field closest to the parking lot, then East Hampton Little League President John Grisch had some words for the crowd that lined around the field. Following the playing of some songs from the John M. Marshall fifth-grade band, youth baseball and softball players listed off the many thank yous for local officials, builders and everyone who had a hand in making the new fields a reality.

East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyac and Town Councilman David Lys also had some words to say, as did Ken Wright of the Southampton Hospital Foundation. Last but not least, was a stirring rendition of the national anthem by Faith Mullaly of Montauk, which preceded a running of the bases by all of the players.

“Great turnout. I feel everything that went on really turned out great,” Grisch said. “The games afterward were great. The kids had a lot of fun, and I think we really showed the town and the league how great these new fields are and we’re all really excited.”

Of course, none of it would have been possible without the direct help of Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, which approached the league five years ago about putting a new emergency room where the league’s previous main fields were located on Pantigo Place. In taking over the town-owned land on Pantigo Place, the hospital offered to help fund new ball fields.

The league still plans to make use of fields around town, such as the Montauk Lions Club field, fields at John M. Marshall, Amagansett and Spring schools and at Maidstone Park. But the new facility is very much the new crown jewel of the league, and what many consider now the East End.

Town and league officials applauded those who were in charge of getting the fields done six weeks ahead of schedule. Grisch said a mild winter had a lot to do with that, but nonetheless, all the builders should be proud of getting the fields done and in playable condition for an Opening Day in April.

There are still some finishing touches that need to be made to the complex overall. Grisch said the sponsorship signs — which he said were plentiful enough to line the entire fence of both fields — will be up in the coming days. The scoreboards were the only thing that fell victim to supply chain issues, and he said there isn’t a timetable just yet as to when those will be in. A picnic area at the center of the pavilion should be installed this season.

Along with a brand new pair of 60-foot synthetic turf baseball and softball diamonds, the facility also features a pair of permanent batting cages, to go along with the existing two multipurpose natural grass athletic fields, two playgrounds, a small basketball court with a portable basketball system, two volleyball courts, a walking/jogging track around the entire facility, and ADA accessible restrooms.

Tim Garneau, a former coach and longtime advocate of the league who chaired the Town of East Hampton Little League Ball Field Relocation Committee, said what he likes most about the new fields is the tension netting that goes around the bottom half of the fields, from behind home plate and up the first and third base lines. The netting allowed for short, 4-foot fencing to go around the field instead of the 12-foot fencing that typically wraps around entire fields. The netting that the league acquired is professional quality, Garneau said, used by both Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League, and is made to last. On top of it being safe, it’s 95 percent see through, Garneau said, easy for family and friends to take video or photos of the players, while also creating fantastic sight lines.

Garneau said he worked closely with many of the builders, including Landtek, and more specifically, Matt Jedlicka of L.K. McLean Associates, consulting engineers and surveyors, who told Garneau the fields are some of the nicest he’s seen in the Tri-State area.

“We also had District 36 officials come out and look at it to make sure we get as many tournament games there as we can, and they assured us they will do that,” he said.

Garneau fondly remembers being a manager of East Hampton Little League’s All-Star teams over a decade ago, when it was an afterthought for the league to enter the District 36 tournament that ultimately leads to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Fast forward to the present, when the league has been one of the more consistent and successful leagues in the district year in and year out, which helped pave the way for the new fields.

“These fields have always been one of our goals because it’s not easy to go play in Rocky Point,” he said. “No question, when we pitched this whole deal to the Town Board, we had the local travel team, the Tomahawks, which are 85-95 local kids taking our business and going up island. Think about that flow coming to us now economically.”

The explosion in baseball locally at the youth level certainly helped as well, Garneau said. Hub 44, a new, state-of-the-art baseball and softball facility at Round Swamp Farm, is also at the center of a rediscovered interest in the sport in town.

“It’s almost like a perfect storm,” Garneau said. “From 2010-2015, we laid the groundwork. Then Vinny Alversa came in and committed himself to the varsity baseball team at the high school and the Hub. This is just a perfect scenario. There are 475 kids right now in East Hampton Little League, and it’s just growing.”

Garneau said that the two new fields could just be the start of what could be a centralized sports complex similar to that of Southampton Youth Services, commonly known as SYS, in Southampton, where myriad sports can be played.

“You know, there are still 40 more acres over there,” he said. “There could be swimming pools, squash courts. We could turf the natural grass fields to make them more year-round fields. I see this as just the first phase, with hopefully more to follow.”