Robin Godwin: South Baltimore Little League Parade This Saturday

Celebrating its 61st year of youth baseball in South Baltimore, the South Baltimore Little League (SBLL) will be hosting its annual parade tomorrow at 11am. The parade will begin at Federal Hill Park, travel south on Riverside Ave., and turn east on E. Fort Ave. before ending at the baseball facility at 1101 E. Fort Ave.

A local fire truck will lead the parade. It will be followed by the color guard and formation marchers from the Fort McHenry Division of the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, and then by The Fort McHenry Guard Fife & Drum Corp.

Grand Marshall’s for the parade are Candidate for Governor and Lieutenant Governor – Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker and Deputy Attorney General Elizabeth Embry. SBLL said that other VIPs expected include the Maryland General Assembly Team 46 members of Senator Bill Ferguson, Delegate Brooke Lierman, Delegate Luke Clippinger, and Delegate Robbyn Lewis, as well as District 46 Candidate Dea Thomas.

The parade is expected to have two to three marching bands, 33 baseball and softball teams, and five to seven mascots from local businesses and schools. Team sponsors will be marching as well.

SBLL will be honoring some of its longest serving volunteers, including:

Quinn Hren – 26 years of service (and this year’s President)
Linda Ruff – 36 years of service (and this year’s Player Agent)
Dave Eishehardt – 39 years of service (and this year’s Treasurer)

The event is expected to wrap up around 1230pm and a full slate of baseball games will follow. The parade is coordinated by SBLL Vice President Michael Brown.

SBLL is still looking for additional parade volunteers (more information and signup information is available here).

SBLL owns its Locust Point facility, which will have a fresh now look this year as a result of an agreement with McHenry Row Developer Mark Sapperstein of 28 Walker for more than $250,000 in improvements. 28 Walker has also agreed to a five-year landscaping agreement. The facility is surrounded on three sides by McHenry Row.

The now-completed improvements include:

Walk-in gate between fields 2 & 3
New fencing and landscaping along Fort Ave.
New backstop and dugouts for field 2
New fencing around fields 1 & 2
Re-grading of fields 1 & 2 with all new sod and infield dirt
Scoreboard for field 2
Electricity to fields 2 & 3
Install batting cage on concrete pad
8 new commercial grade picnic tables
8 new commercial grade trash cans
Removal of old wood and concrete bleachers and replaced with new metal bleachers
Paving of gravel road leading to fields 3 & 4 and clean up of the same area
Removal of shipping containers and old carnival trailer currently used for storage and replaced with an 800 sq. ft. building

This is the second round of improvements by 28 Walker, which added new turf, backstops, dugouts, fencing, and landscaping around the perimeter to fields 3 and 4 in 2015.

Brown told SouthBMore.com that the renovations to the facility have been great, and that discussions are ongoing for a phase 3 of improvements.

As part of the agreement, SBLL has granted an easement that allows 28 Walker to use eight feet of land behind fields 1 and 2 to install a new sidewalk along Porter St.

SBLL previously maintained the fields which were gifted to them by Coca-Cola in 1997. In 2013, Domino Sugar donated a new back stop and dugouts to field 1. Under Armour has also made donations including a scoreboard on field 1.

SBLL also added a three-tread softball league this year.

Photos of the improved SBLL facility