This page was exported from King Weekly Sentinel [ https://kingsentinel.com ] Export date:Thu Nov 21 12:20:26 2024 / +0000 GMT ___________________________________________________ Title: Nobleton diamond upgrade a bonus to community --------------------------------------------------- By Jeff Doner The King Township Baseball Association, along with Town officials and the public, officially marked the opening of the newly refurbished Nobleton Sports Park baseball diamond with a bang during the long weekend. Mayor Steve Pellegrini threw the first pitch on the diamond, which was followed up by an exhibition game between two of the KTBA's bantam teams. “The Nobleton diamond means a lot to us,” said KTBA president, David Long. “It is our biggest and best diamond in King Township and to have it upgraded to now become such a high graded field is a really great thing for our older kids to play on. It was very much a necessity.” The upgraded park includes a new 40-foot backstop, King's first bullpen, new fencing surrounding the field, lights and the installation of new dugouts and bleachers. The project itself cost nearly $460,000 with the goal of helping to grow the sport of baseball (and in particular hardball) in King. After a long winter without baseball, Long said the players couldn't wait to get out on the field for the first time. “The players were in awe as they approached that field,” he said. “I know a lot of our players had planned to go away for the long weekend and I know a lot personally that changed their plans just for the chance to get on that field and play the exhibition game. It is a very beautiful diamond and everyone was thrilled to be out there to get a chance to be the first to play on it.” Chris Fasciano, director of parks, recreation and culture, said the Township wanted to give Nobleton a suitable hardball diamond and that the refurbishments are a step in the right direction. “I think that from the prospective of a short-term opportunity for development, it really at least started to upgrade the standard of field that we play at, so it gives the league and the teams a little bit more credibility when they're playing in town,” he told the King Weekly Sentinel earlier this spring. “I think it's probably just phase one of a longer term plan to really make hardball a focus. It's not even really all about hardball, but as the kids start to age, when they're getting into the higher age groups, they need a higher caliber field to play on and one that will meet the physical needs that they have.” As for the KTBA, teams have been practicing for a few weeks in order to get ready for their first league games of the season this week. “It has been a very good spring and we've had a lot of interest in baseball,” Long said. “Our numbers are up again and we're definitely seeing strong growth in baseball in our community.” For more information on the KTBA, visit their site at www.ktba.ca. --------------------------------------------------- Images: --------------------------------------------------- Excerpt: The King Township Baseball Association, along with Town officials and the public, officially marked the opening of the newly refurbished Nobleton Sports Park baseball diamond with a bang during the long weekend. --------------------------------------------------- Post date: 2014-05-28 09:08:56 Post date GMT: 2014-05-28 13:08:56 Post modified date: 2014-07-02 11:27:32 Post modified date GMT: 2014-07-02 15:27:32 ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Export of Post and Page as text file has been powered by [ Universal Post Manager ] plugin from www.gconverters.com