It doesn’t take much examination to notice that the Marshalltown Little League fields located at 1000 S. 12th St. are in dire need of improvements. From collapsing dugout roofs to inoperable scoreboards to aging bleachers to infields at an incline over outfields to leaking restrooms, the evidence is everywhere.

“You name it, we have it,” Little League Board Member Zach Wahl said.

Fortunately for athletes, coaches and fans alike, a dedicated group of volunteers led by a board of directors established last year has taken it upon themselves to make the facility something Marshalltown residents can be proud of, and they’ve already received major contributions both from local businesses and organizations and those further away — namely, the Minnesota Twins. As Wahl explained, kids would often return from games in other communities and wonder why their own fields were in such rough shape.

“That kind of spearheaded us to work on the scoreboards (with a) kid approach, teaching the kids how to rewire them, rerunning the wires, get some of the scoreboards working again, get a flagpole working again. And soon after that, we worked together, started talking, and I think more and more, a couple of us were like ‘Hey, let’s approach this and build out a board.’ And we’ve done that so far,” Wahl said. “We’ve got all different types of people on our board… We’ve played at different facilities out of town, so we have a concept of what needs to happen. So (we’re) just bringing that all together.”

That board includes Marshalltown Community College (MCC) baseball coach Anthony Everman, Marshalltown High School (MHS) baseball coach Colton Hanke and County and Travel Ball Coordinator Allen Mann, who served as the interim MHS head coach for the 2023 season. Everman, who originally hails from Postville, has always associated Marshalltown with baseball as it was once the host of the state tournament.

“My brother played in the state tournament here and won a state title, so it was always a community that loved baseball and wanted to embrace baseball from the whole state. I still think that’s a possibility here. We have a lot of really passionate people here that love baseball, and how you fall in love with baseball when you’re little is you enjoy playing the game. You enjoy practicing. You enjoy the summer night, your buddies, all that stuff, and I think a lot of that is still here. And a lot of people are really excited about it,” he said. “The better we make the facilities, the complex, the more pride they have not only as kids but as parents and citizens of the town, it’s only gonna get better… We’ve got to do our part as citizens here to make this as good as we can here for the kids.”

Another board member, Marshalltown Police Department (MPD) Capt. Kiel Stevenson, spoke of a longstanding community desire to see the fields improved, and he’s proud to be part of the team of volunteers finally making it happen. Board President Corey Schoenfelder has been encouraged by a recent uptick in youth participation and hopes the current project will have a ripple effect well into the future.

“We’re trying to not only improve baseball, but, you know, keep the kids involved throughout the year, give them a chance to stay active and stay participating in more sports than just baseball,” Schoenfelder said. “We’ve kind of taken baseball the same route as the basketball’s taken the last couple years and tried to make (it) club and keep kids involved and give them an opportunity to stay implemented all year round.”

Of course, projects of this magnitude typically don’t come to fruition without the help of donations from private businesses and individuals, and one look at the new and improved field at the western edge of the complex leaves no doubt about the involvement of one of Marshalltown’s most iconic companies: MARSHALLTOWN Company. Wahl described MARSHALLTOWN President/CEO Joe Carter as “the first one up to the plate” after they initially met to discuss the board’s goals for the future, challenging them to “do better.”

From there, others quickly followed his lead: the Twins, the Community Foundation of Marshall County, Emerson, the Assistance League of Marshalltown and a host of other donors.

“We have a lot of Little League hall of famers this year. I don’t know who to nominate because there’s so many of them,” Wahl said.

The ultimate fundraising goal is “way over six figures,” he added, and Wahl can report that they are closing in on $100,000. Another long-term dream is to have functioning lights for all six of the fields through a still-developing partnership with Musco — currently, only two have them, and they’re around 50 years old — and also working with Mechdyne to get a PA system up and running for the playing of the national anthem.

And beyond simply hosting youth baseball games, Wahl highlighted the fields, which are owned by the city of Marshalltown and leased and maintained by the Little League organization, as a community hub with the trails running through them and impromptu events like kickball games springing up when they aren’t in use.

Last Friday, Dylan Schumacher of Schumacher Construction and a member of his team were hard at work installing new metal roofs on the dugouts, which Wahl expects to “last a lifetime.” In the next year, plans include laser grading all of the fields, adding warning tracks to a couple of them, new foul poles fabricated by local partners, improving the bathrooms and replacing the bleachers.

“We’re traveling to other communities for these tournaments, and these bring in hundreds, if not thousands of people throughout the summer. So we want that to be (us). Why not Marshalltown?” Stevenson asked. “Why can’t we host those tournaments here, give local kids an opportunity to play at a higher level and also bring in some revenue for the city and for the complex and things like that? So I think that’s our ultimate goal.”

The board is comprised of Schoenfelder, Wahl, Stevenson, Everman, Hanke, Mann, Jordan Judkins, Cole Danielson, Jeremy Ruddick, Steve Hanson and Erin Strong. Anyone wishing to donate can make checks out to Marshalltown Little League, PO Box 1511, Marshalltown, IA 50158 or visit https://www.mtownlittleleague.org/ for more updates and information. Friends of the late Craig Olsen are also organizing a gathering at Wayward Social on June 22 to support the cause as the memories he created through Little League were “incredibly significant” to him.