Bear Field back in action

Jul. 14—Sitting at Bear Field on a warm Tuesday afternoon to watch a youth baseball game between Potlatch Babe Ruth and the Moscow Diamondbacks, Heidi Hawley couldn't help but smile.

After two years of sitting in disarray — and only being used once in the last five years by the currently absent Moscow Blue Devils American Legion team — Bear Field's baseball diamond was back hosting regular games again.

And for the first time, that included youth games.

"Bear Field is nostalgic for a lot of people in our community," said Hawley, the vice president for Cal Ripken baseball in Moscow and the catalyst getting the field back in action.

"It's where all those people that are parenting kids now grew up playing baseball, so to see their kids playing on it has been a big full circle."

Unlike the other baseball fields in the city that are maintained by staff workers, Bear Field at Moscow Middle School was maintained by the Blue Devils' organization. But with the Devils only hosting a team one year since 2019 — the last being in 2021 — the field had been sitting there unused by the community.

And while parks like the Moscow School District Community Playfields (also called the Joseph Fields) and Gormley Park can hold games, there was a need for more locations.

"Between Parks and Rec and adult softball programs and high school baseball and softball and our Cal Ripken, Babe Ruth and travel teams, there's just not enough fields to go around sometimes," Hawley said.

So Hawley contacted the school district to see if the Moscow Baseball Association could lease the field and set out to make Bear Field playable again, not only for high-level teams, but for youth teams.

And the support from the community and local businesses was staggering.

There was Pre-Mix Inc. in Pullman, which donated and "500 tons of dirt," trucked in all the way from LaCrosse, Wash., for the infield.

There was Youmans Excavation of Moscow, which came in to grate and apply the dirt to the field.

There was Moscow and Pullman Building Supply, which donated materials to completely rebuild the roofs of the dugouts.

Three companies — Omega Electric, Avista Utilities and Silver Linings Farms — stepped up to pay the electric bill for the use of the lights for night games.

On top of all the company donations, community members stepped up to fix the dugout roofs.

"We identified that there's a field that just needs some attention, and love, and care, and time and energy, and if we put that into it, then we would have a field that we could use," Hawley said.

One of the key factors going into the project was that youth teams needed a field with shorter base paths. Babe Ruth teams use 90- and 80-foot base paths, Cal Ripken majors (70 feet) and minors (60) also use shorter base paths.

So the school district agreed to cut back the sod on the infield and allow spots for base paths at the 90-, 80- and 70-foot lengths instead of just the 90 it was previously used for.

"Now, all you have to do is there's plugs, you pull the plug, you put your base in, then you take your base out ... and you can move your bases to whatever length you need them to be," Hawley said.

By the middle of May, the field was back in use for the first time in years.

It's currently used by the Cal Ripken major teams (10- to 12-year-olds) and Babe Ruth teams (13 to 15), with about a dozen teams using it so far.

But youths as young as 6 years old have practiced on it and the hope is the Blue Devils will return next season.

In the past, Blue Devils coach Stan Mattoon and his players would take care of the field during their seasons, and that tradition has carried over to the youth teams.

After games, parents and players are seen raking the field, painting the lines and getting it ready for the next team.

Nate Poler, a 13-year-old player for the Moscow Diamondbacks and a field umpire for younger youth teams, remembers watching the Devils play when he was a child.

"I can barely remember when I was really, really young I would watch the Blue Devils play there," Poler said. "And then watching the field as it got built back into good condition, it was kind of cool to watch and then to play on the same field that the Blue Devils played on all those years ago."

Hawley said it's not uncommon for fans to drive by the field and see the lights on, and stop to watch a game or two — something she hopes will continue to happen for many years to come.

"I've had several community members reach out and just say (they) don't have kids playing sports anymore but when they walk by and see the lights on and the parking lot full ... and just the cool baseball feeling that Bear Field is notorious for, they can't help but park their car and go watch some baseball.

"And I love that that is happening in our community."

Wiebe may be contacted at (208) 848-2277, swiebe@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @StephanSports.