GREENFIELD — It’s 1975, and dozens of Hancock County parents lay down blankets and lawn chairs along the fence of Riley Park’s baseball diamonds as they get ready to watch their children compete. The familiar sounds fill the air; babbling from the creek, children playing on the playground, cheers from the dugouts. The umpire dons his mask.
Play ball.
Fast forward to July 28, 2018, and a spectator would look on at a similar looking scene. The children of the players from 1975 are now the cheering parents while their kids are the ones taking the field, setting out to play a tournament at Riley Park, one last time.
Riley Park has been a good home for the Greenfield Youth Baseball Association, said president Mike Hubert. But for the first time in nearly 50 years, it’s time for the organization to move on.
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Saturday marked the little league’s final tournament to take place at Riley’s diamonds, where the league has conducted season games and tournaments for decades.
While it was a nostalgic weekend, the organization is looking toward the future now as they continue on next season at the newly-renovated Franklin Field, the baseball diamonds near Greenfield-Central Junior High School.
Moving Forward
Numerous complications arose over several years of hosting games and tournaments at Riley Park, said Rich Rosemeyer, GYBA vice president, that went beyond logistical issues such as parking, foot traffic,
GYBA will be using land leased to them by the parks department to establish their new baseball home, Hubert said. They are in the process of building 12 fields, a step up from the five diamonds at Riley Park, he said.
Come next spring, the organization plans to have eight fields ready for the little-leaguers to use, and in another year they’ll hopefully have the full 12, he said.
Construction on the new fields has been funded entirely through donations and volunteer manpower, Rosemeyer said, so completing the project is still a work in progress.
“It’s a little rough around the edges, but each year we hope to improve it,” Rosemeyer said. “We’re working toward really making a state-of-the-art facility.”
GYBA entered into a legal partnership with the Indiana Bandits, the local travel ball team, and will share the upgraded facility with them for use as a home field. Both GYBA and the Bandits have already generated outside interest from other baseball organizations from around the state, and they’re looking forward to having a place in Greenfield to play, he said.
Legacy Remembered
Hubert has been involved with GYBA for more than 30 years, he said. Having seen his own children play in the program, he’s had the opportunity to see multiple generations play on Riley Park’s fields.
“One of the most interesting things is where people that you coached as a little kid are now bringing their kids to GYBA,” Hubert said. “And that’s kind of a strange feeling, when you remember that kid who’s now 6’5″ and 37 years old was once your 8-year-old student. That kind of makes you wonder.”
Greg Hall, a GYBA coach, said that the switch to a new field hasn’t quite sunk in yet for him. Having played ball at Riley when he was a boy, the diamonds at the park are the grounds where he grew up.
Like most little leagues, GYBA is about much more than baseball, he said.
“It’s kind of a passing of the torch type thing,” Hall said. “Handing it down to them and raising them up at the same time, teaching them about baseball and life, how to be a good sport and a good person.”
“I remember the people, really,” he added. “I don’t think anybody remembers any of the scores or any of the games. But I still talk to a lot of the guys I played baseball with way back in the day. Now we’ll sit on the porch talking about baseball and everything.”
Rosemeyer said the league’s last days at Riley Park were bittersweet. The coaches and players are of course pleased to move on to a bigger and better field, but he’s grown attached to the place where he’s coached for the past 12 years.
GYBA is passionate about providing the 400 plus kids involved in the program an avenue to do something fun and constructive, Rosemeyer said. And while a new facility makes for exciting times, Riley Park will always be the place where his generation learned about life and baseball, he said.
“The kids won’t think anything of it, they just see a new ball park,” Rosemeyer said. “But for us, it’s a piece of our childhood fading into a memory.”
