Volunteers get Police Athletic League ball fields in North Huntingdon ready for fall play

For months, the ball fields at the Police Athletic League complex in North Huntingdon sat idle as the coronavirus pandemic halted just about every indoor and outdoor activity.

As spring turned to summer, restrictions were eased and sounds of the crack of the bat and balls popping into leather mitts made a comeback.

On Saturday, tractors and shovels were the sounds that echoed from the fields as organization volunteers prepared the grounds for the return of the fall sports season.

“We felt it was important because everything else around them was canceled,” said PAL board member Michele Zula of the organization’s resumption of summer and fall play. “They were canceled with school, dance, soccer. The kids wanted to play. They needed to be outside interacting and do what they normally do.”

Zula and a handful of other volunteers came out Saturday morning for the organization’s fall cleanup. Friday’s heavy rains limited participation and some of the planned chores, which was to include grass cutting, field leveling and painting, were put on hold.

Some work was able to continue, though. Garbage and trash was removed and pooled water was drained from the facility’s six diamonds.

About 350 kids played during PAL’s summer season that started in early July and ran through mid-August. The fall season for baseball and softball is slated to begin after Labor Day and run through the middle of October.

Zula said 29 teams are signed up this fall and about 350 boys and girls ages 4 through 15 are set to play.

Pandemic-induced changes made

Concessions will be made because of the pandemic.

Parents must sign waivers for their children to play. Players won’t be required to wear masks.

Games and practices will be spaced out to allow for fewer kids and parents to be at the fields at the same time. Bathrooms will be sanitized more often and coaches will be responsible for cleaning bench areas after the last outs are recorded.

Umpires who usually call balls and strikes from behind home plate will be able to do so from in back of the pitcher.

“Everybody has worked a lot harder this year especially since all volunteers in this organization work 9-to-5 jobs,” said board member Bob Greives.

It’s work that’s needed and appreciated to ensure safe play this fall.

Rob Farroux, a volunteer from North Huntingdon, has a 13-year-old son playing ball this fall. Farroux spent the morning digging a trenches to remove water puddled on the playing surfaces — a difficult fix but one that ensures little additional degradation of the fields.

“It’s not an elegant solution, but it works,” Farroux said.