PORT HADLOCK — The East Jefferson Little League is preparing to kick off the baseball season despite the league’s clubhouse still being under repair after two burglaries caused thousands of dollars in damage and missing equipment.
“It’s just put us a little behind,” said Kenny Yingling, East Jefferson Little League director.
“Usually we’d now be working on the fields and getting them ready for the season here in two or three weeks.”
Tryouts are set March 11-12. Practices will begin March 13. The first game will be April 10.
So far, more than 80 youngsters have signed up.
“Eighty is a little lower than usual,” Yingling said. “We usually get around 100, but since they’re spread out in this little community, they do have a lot of options.”
When Yingling came to turn on the heat in the league’s Elkins Road clubhouse Dec. 5, he found broken doors and door frames and the entire building — which houses the league offices, gear storage and snack shop — in disarray.
Another burglary was reported Dec. 10.
Trial is expected to start Monday for James Hansen, 21, of Port Hadlock, who pleaded not guilty to two counts of second-degree burglary, or illegally entering a property with the intent of committing a crime, and one count of theft.
The damage to the building, estimated at roughly $7,000 at the time, was Yingling’s biggest concern in December because the broken door frames made it difficult to secure the building.
However, the community responded, he said. Tim and Don Thomas of Bernt Ericsen Excavating in Port Townsend stepped forward to help pay for new doors and door frames.
“They gave a generous donation to fix the doors,” Yingling said. “They’ve always been big contributors out here. Their goal really is to help the youth in the community.”
The rest of the cleanup was done primarily by Yingling and a few community members who came out and donated their time to help fix doors and clean the snack shop.
Yingling said the snack shop ended up being a much bigger project than initially expected.
“The whole thing had to be gutted in order to clean it,” Yingling said.
The league did get most of the gear back that was stolen, including baseballs and gear bags. However, it is still without a laptop and a scoreboard remote.
“Once the insurance gets figured out and everything is proved, we should be getting a check for those,” Yingling said. “It’s just a long process.”
Yingling said because cleanup is still in progress, no one is sure how much the burglaries will cost the league.
But with donations of money and time from community members and Little League staff, along with the league’s insurance covering some of the costs, the damage isn’t as bad as it could have been, he said.
More information on the East Jefferson Little League can be found at the league’s website, www.ejlittleleague.com.
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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Cydney McFarland can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 55052, or at cmcfarland@peninsuladailynews.com.
