GH Little League hosting District 2 baseball games

A successful operation could bring more tournaments to area

Marques hunter

of the Gateway

The Gig Harbor Little League non-profit organization has been selected to host the District 2 tournament this year — an unprecedented opportunity that could open bigger doors in the coming years.

While the news has brought excitement to the program, GHLL board members are preparing for added pressure to handle more scheduling and volunteer duties.

For the first time in its history, GHLL will host the 9-10-year-old and the 10-11-year-old District 2 Little League baseball games.

GHLL has hosted the juniors (13-14) and seniors (15-16) in four of the past five years.

Ron Brentin, a GHLL board member, said the smooth-flowing success of organizing the juniors and seniors tournaments in previous years influenced the District 2 administration to select GHLL to host two more age groups.

Other board members believe it will provide great visibility for future opportunities — such as hosting the District 2 majors tournament.

District 2 tournaments for 9- through 11-year-olds have previously been located farther west in towns like Port Orchard, Poulsbo and Sequim.

“It was fantastic,” said Bob Werner, GHLL board member who coordinated the newly formed girls soft pitch program, which began this year and registered more than 100 participants.

“Everyone was really excited,” he said.

Hosting the District 2 tournaments may be a challenge.

In the juniors and seniors tournaments alone, the GHLL — with strictly volunteer support — managed to organize 11 teams in double-elimination format. Teams who win their district qualify for the state tournament.

This year, however, the organization of the baseball games for the District 2 tournament will be much different — more crowded, to be exact.

By incorporating the 9-10 and 10-11 age groups, GHLL will increase the number of teams to 36.

District 2 serves youth in Kitsap, Mason, Jefferson, Clallam and Pierce counties. There are 12 Little League organizations within District 2, and 13 districts in Washington state.

In the majors division, winners of state tournaments qualify for regional play, and that’s where teams can qualify for the Little League World Series, which is held each year at Williamsport, Penn.

At the district level, all three GHLL fields will be used for tournament action in the double-elimination tournament that will last at least two weeks.

Brentin said there were at least two other Little League programs that were interested in hosting the District 2 9-10 and 10-11 age groups.

GHLL had scheduled fewer than one-third of the number of games it’s arranging for this year, Brentin said. Up to 68 games could be played at GHLL in District 2 competition. Potentially, 52 of those games would come in the 9-10 and 10-11 age groups.

When Brentin did the math, he said: “We’ve got a lot of work to do. We already have people stepping up.”

Since this year will have the most games played at the GHLL fields for District 2 competition — by far.

Board members hope volunteer support increases. If the scheduling runs according to plan, a new GHLL facility — in its conceptual stages — could be picked to host the District 2 majors tournament, which will be at the South Kitsap Western facility in Port Orchard this year.

“If we are able to manage it (additional District 2 baseball games) — and we get the new fields — it’d give us a great shot,” Werner said.

A capital campaign to raise a $1 million started this year for the construction of additional ball fields large enough for majors competition.

Olympic Property Group and the City of Gig Harbor are currently working on a contract that would provide fields for GHLL. OPG, which currently owns the land, is looking for an exchange from the city that would offset future transportation impact fees when it develops more of its 320-acre property in Gig Harbor North.

Six teams from the GHLL will essentially have home-field advantage when they play at the District 2 tournament this year: The GHLL program will send two teams from its 9-10 division and two more from its 10-11 division.

Two teams will also participate from the junior division, but no Gig Harbor senior team will play.

The 9-10 and 10-11 age groups split up their teams into American and National leagues, so there will be one team from each league.

Upside, downside to hosting tournament

Just like going on vacation or camping, scheduling and other logistical matters have a tendency to get a bit off track.

GHLL board members said it will be all about volunteer support.

It takes at least three volunteers to put on a Little League baseball game — not including umpires or others running concessions at the Snack Shack.

At any given point, there will be six teams playing at once, with another six teams waiting and another handful of teams arriving early to get warmed up.

Ideally, Brentin said he would like to have about 12 volunteers available throughout the day.

While gathering local support through the regular season wasn’t difficult — every volunteer usually had a children participating — most of the teams will be out of town.

“If people (volunteers) don’t show, you have to cover that,” Brentin said of possible hiccups. “Everything else should fall into place.”

While coordinating about 70 games is a large responsibility, board members see the opportunity as a great leverage tool to bring more people to the city.

Werner said the GHLL makes about $500 to $1,000 on a good weekend night at the snack shack. He expects a significant increase with many of the families coming from out of town without lunches.

The Snack Shack should generate more funds with the increase in the number of teams and games. The local youth missionary group, Young Life, volunteers its time to help at the Snack Shack. GHLL, in turn, donates half its profit to Young Life’s fundraising for church camp.

“Those fields are going to be packed for those games,” Werner said.

Gig Harbor City Administrator Rob Karlinsey said bringing more people into the city and having them stay the night could only mean positive things from an economic standpoint.

“When they come here to stay, they come here to shop,” Karlinsey said.

Where the city will see most of its profits is from the hotel-motel tax, lodging tax and sales tax.

Additionally, there are only large hotels in Gig Harbor — The Best Western Wesley Inn and The Inn at Gig Harbor — plus smaller inns with bed-and-breakfast service spread throughout the city and Key Peninsula.

Registration up

Last year, the GHLL registered 652 participants. This year, that number increased by nearly 10 percent to 815. A large part of the boost in numbers came from integrating girls softball.

The GHLL girls’ softball program will send one team — from the 9-10 age group — to the District 2 tournament at North Kitsap. Werner and others believe the league will send more age groups to girls softball tournaments next year.

The GHLL has been forced to rent more fields from the Peninsula Metropolitan Park District and the Peninsula School District to make up for the increase in youth recreation.

GHLL launched the $1 million capital campaign to build three additional fields on an adjoining parcel because it has reached its limit in both registration and park space.

Board members have said they’re at the property lines, and it’s impossible to lengthen the current fields for majors competition.

The GHLL is currently seeking grants and recently raised $60,000 at an auction-dinner at Canterwood Golf & Country Club to achieve its goal.

Werner said any additional money from registration that doesn’t go into the operating budget goes toward the account for the field campaign.

GHLL board members are optimistic about the agreement between OPG and the City of Gig Harbor. If the deal is finalized, the new fields would need to go through a permitting process before construction could begin.

Reach Sports Editor Marques Hunter at 253-853-9246 or by e-mail at marques.hunter@gateline.com.