They Will Come Even Before You Build It: East Hampton Little League Holds Well Attended Groundbreaking for New Ball Fields

Saturday’s groundbreaking of East Hampton Little League’s new ball fields on Stephen Hands Path was proof that they will come even before you build it.

There were an estimated 115 youth on hand to take part in the groundbreaking, according to some officials. That’s nearly half the number of youth who actually signed up for Little League baseball and softball last year, East Hampton Little League President Dave Rutkowski said on Monday. Joining the kids and Rutkowski on Saturday were a number of town officials, including Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc and councilman David Lys, who all have a stake in the process due to how the fields came about.

During the height of the pandemic, Rutkowski said Southampton Hospital officials approached him and his league about possibly purchasing town-owned land at 400 Pantigo Place where the league had its longtime “premier” fields. The land, hospital officials said, would be perfect for a brand new, state-of-the-art emergency room facility run by Stony Brook Southampton Hospital and Stony Brook University Hospital.

Both the hospital and town said they would help pay for new fields for the league, and voilà, the land for the new fields near the old CDCH property has been cleared with construction to begin shortly. Rutkowski and league officials plan on hosting its Opening Day in April, as it normally would, although an exact date won’t be decided until officials see how progress is made on the site.

Rutkowski said the league will still 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 will replace Pantigo as the league’s new premier fields, and according to Tim Garneau, a former coach and longtime advocate of the league who chairs the Town of East Hampton Little League Ball Field Relocation Committee, it will certainly live up to that premier title and be a welcoming spot for all, not just baseball and softball players.

The property, which sits on 52 acres according to Garneau, will be centered around a pair of state-of-the-art SporTurf fields that will double as baseball and softball fields. Both fields will have removable pitching mounds for age-appropriate levels, batting cages and scoreboards, but what Garneau will like most about the fields is the tension netting that the fields will have. Similar to what’s now at Major League ballparks, such as Citi Field, the netting will sit 25-feet high and behind home plate and along the dug outs. A 4-feet high chain-link fence will run along each side of the dugouts to provide safety from foul balls but they won’t be high enough where spectators can’t sit, or stand, and watch a game.

“Just like we had at Pantigo, where you can lean over and catch a game,” Garneau said. “What we were trying to do was have an as spectator-friendly ballpark as we could. I just didn’t like going to ballparks in, like, Brookhaven Town that had these high fences all the way around that didn’t have any good sightlines for spectators. We’re going to have a park that’s for kids, parents, grandparents.

“We’re also going to have bleachers right behind home plate and a bit of a grandstand area, which is something we didn’t have at Pantigo. We really didn’t have a great viewing area at Pantigo,” he continued. “But that tension-netting padded system is brand new. It’s higher and safer than anywhere else on Long Island and it’s really going to create great sightlines.”

What Garneau envisions about the new facility is a place that everyone in town can use and spend hours on end there. While the new fields are the focal point, there are also existing volleyball and basketball courts, soccer fields, playgrounds, which are to be refurbished, and a walking path around the entire property. Garneau also is excited about, down the road, the possible expansion that could be had since it does sit on 52 acres, most of which is not being entirely used at the moment, even with the building of the new fields.

Garneau is one of a number of volunteers who have spent well over a decade dedicating time and effort, long before and after their kids passed through East Hampton Little League. He recalled 10 years or so ago when he first started the league’s All-Star teams to compete in local Little League World Series tournaments. Now those teams are competing with some of the top teams in the county each year and now the league will have top notch fields to match those teams.

“Now look at what we’re doing,” Garneau said. “It’s really exciting it’s come this far.”