What a difference a year has made to Kellams Field

Friday, Aug. 28, 2009

Well, a few days later we got another knock on the door and we answered it and it was Bruce Wahl. I was actually on my way out and was opening the door at the same time Bruce was knocking. I started listening to Bruce and, when he was done giving me his speech, I asked him if he had a minute. Well, I was surprised but happy when he said, "Sure, what is on your mind?"

Here we are on my porch, I have listened to Bruce and now he is actually listening to me. I asked Bruce if he was elected as mayor would he and could he do anything about getting the baseball fields at Kellams Field back into playable shape.

I went on explaining that I was the district commissioner of Babe Ruth Baseball and we have somewhere around 900 kids playing ball and that fields were scarce in the county.

Calvert Babe Ruth Baseball is a very good league for providing baseball for all levels of skill. We have entry level kids all the way up to travel teams that compete with the best of the best. Babe Ruth has won several state championships (three state championships this year) as well as a couple regional championships (one more regional championship this year) and has actually had four or five teams go to the little league World Series. Not bad considering the county is limited in baseball fields. Calvert County has produced some great teams over the years and Babe Ruth is committed to teaching baseball to kids for the fun of it.

Anyhow, the fields at Kellams had not been maintained for years with the old administration. I had tried several times to reach the former mayor but never got any replies to my e-mails. This went on and on until the fields right in the center of town were so bad they could not be used. What a shame; this could be a great place for kids during the spring and summer.

Now it is time to say thank you to current Mayor Bruce Wahl for jumping in headfirst and getting things moving. He had the help of all the folks at Town Hall, Michelle Jenkins, Kathy Johnson, Paul Woodburn, Jay Berry, Wilson Cochrane, plus many that I don't even know about. Most of the town council was on board for the renovations. Councilman Stewart Cumbo wanted to work on the small field and totally eliminate the 90-foot field saying it was a waste and no one ever used it. How wrong he was about that. We had great success on that field. They all kept in touch with me. And between us and Calvert County Parks and Recreation, we have had a pretty successful season at Kellams Field.

The fields still need some work. We need to figure out ways to keep the restrooms open. I know there are plans to address the drainage and we can only hope the small field is going to be as nice as the big field is now. Extra Innings in Upper Marlboro got us all the tools we needed to maintain the fields.

Special thanks also should go out to Les and Windmill farms for preparing the big field for the BPA tournament Bash at the Bay. I was told recently the tournament needed another field and I committed Kellams to be added to the list.

The field was not ready.

Then I went and saw the mayor and explained what needed to happen. While I sat in his office, he made calls and his folks got together with Windmill farms. In four days, Kellams was transformed into what it is today. The tournament opened up with something we have seen all year, rain. We got the first game in on a Saturday and then the tournament was postponed all over the county. We were to pick it up on Sunday if the fields were ready. We used almost every 90-foot field in Calvert County and on Sunday morning every field had a one-hour delay except for Kellams field.

That's right, Kellams handled the rain better than any other field in Calvert County.

People who have been around baseball know that is hard to believe.

Less than a year ago Kellams fields were the laughing stock of youth baseball. Nobody wanted to play there. But not now, and, hopefully, not ever again.

The fields still need work. The dugouts need to be covered, there needs to be pitcher warm up areas by each field and batting cages outside the fence would be nice.

What would make these fields the showcase of Calvert County would be press boxes behind the backstops where we could have a PA system on top and storage underneath for rakes, drags, bases etc. Scoreboards could also be controlled from press boxes. Many other counties have fields like this.

Calvert High School has a perfect example of a press box. Maybe the town could accept donations from some of the businesses to raise the money.

The bottom line is baseball is back at Kellams, and, with some more work, can get better and better.

In today's economic times it is nice to see money being spent on something that rewards families in our town. The transformation was amazing to watch. It started out with a few parents coming to watch their kids play baseball to Mayor Bruce Wahl coming down to watch games along with Councilmember Pat Mahoney. By the end of the season, there were folks coming down just to watch baseball. I saw people lining up behind the backstops amazed at some of the pitches these kids were throwing.

Again, I can't tell you how happy it was to see these fields being used again. I know that plans are already in the making to make next year better and the real winners are the kids of our community. Kellams Field was the practice field for Babe Ruth's 16u all-star team and eventually the 2009 Maryland State Champions.

Who said no one uses Kellams?

Thanks again to all the council members that have supported Mayor Wahl's efforts. Keep up the great work.

Bruce Powers, Chesapeake Beach