By TALIA SCHMIDT

Baker City Herald

On a day so sunny the bleachers behind home plate were filled with parents holding umbrellas to shield the sun, aspiring baseball big shots across Northeastern Oregon got the chance to live out their dreams.

Saturday marked the opening day of the annual District 3 Little League 9- and 10-year-old baseball tournament at Wade Williams Elks Memorial Field.

With seven teams in the tournament and an average of 12 boys on each team, the parental cheerleading section continued to grow as the hours passed. Three games scheduled for Saturday culminated in the big Baker vs. La Grande game.

Shelly Cutler, who took over this year as Little League Association assistant district administrator of baseball, said the way the kids’ faces light up as they play ball is the most rewarding part of her job.

andquot;It’s definitely the kids’ excitement,andquot; said Cutler of her favorite part of the tournament. andquot;From their nerves during the national anthem to their faces when they first take the field it’s 100 percent about the kids.andquot;

Ty Bennett, Little League Association president, said the amount of volunteer work the tournament takes is outstanding. Often, people don’t realize how much work goes into such an undertaking, especially when a small number of people are doing several jobs, instead of several people doing only a few jobs.

andquot;Even if we could get one person to mow the field once, that would be a huge help,andquot; said Bennett. andquot;I’ve mowed the lawn here 15 times this year.andquot;

He said finding enough volunteers proved to be a challenge this year.

andquot;We need people mowing the lawn, at the concession stands and working the scoreboard,andquot; said Bennett. andquot;People come and see everything here, but they don’t know what all it takes to have it done.andquot;

Bennett and Cutler said the Baker Little League Board has been prepping for the tournament since April.

andquot;We had to get the facility ready, get volunteers to help with field maintenance and prep,andquot; said Cutler. andquot;We also had to design tournament T-shirts.andquot;

She said the board, which consists of community members, helped with design.

Cutler explained that a baseball tournament requires endless volunteer help, and Baker City managed to round up about 40 volunteers this year.

Eric Snively, the tournament’s umpire consultant, said the district provides umpires who undergo extensive training in California for the tournament. Overall, 12 to 15 umpires volunteered to help with the tournament.

Umpire consultants serve as the experts in case of a dispute. Snively said that doesn’t happen often in Little League, but on occasion.

Snively, who began his Little League career 13 years ago as a T-ball coach, worked with Cutler throughout the tournament to make sure things ran smoothly.

andquot;It’s giving the kids a good feeling about themselves and the game,andquot; said Cutler. andquot;It’s a good time for all and a great experience for the kids.andquot;

Cutler said she started volunteering with Little League when her oldest son, now 17, was only 4. She was the league president for eight years before she switched to the district staff. Cutler said even though her kids have graduated from Little League, she enjoys helping everyone else’s kids and watching them grow.

Throughout the day, Cutler and Snively collected donations for their andquot;50-50 Pass-the-Hatandquot; fundraising raffle. Parents, siblings and others attending the tournament were asked to make contributions to help pay for Little League expenses. Half of the money collected went directly toward Little League, while the other half went to one lucky fan in the crowd. The first winner received $42, half of the $84 collected during the first game.

As hard as it is to organize, the tournament generates a significant amount of income locally.

andquot;It’s one of the biggest sources of income we get,andquot; said Bennett. From concessions at games to the souvenir T-shirts commemorating the tournament, to the overnight lodging, playing host to such an event has its perks.

Bennett said the Mountain View RV Park owners were thrilled by the tournament’s location because it helped keep their business booming.

andquot;Four or five of the teams stayed there for about four or five days,andquot; said Bennett. andquot;They just love it.andquot;

Lance Cline, the tournament’s director, agreed that the best part about the event was watching the kids play. For his first year in Baker City, Cline is keeping busy.

Cline joked that he was chosen as the tournament’s director when he was late to a Board meeting and the Board voted him in. But he said lots of people gave him lists of names of people willing to help.

andquot;We always need more volunteers,andquot; said Cline. andquot;Everybody benefits from it. It keeps registration costs down.andquot;

He added that with more volunteers, the field maintenance work doesn’t seem quite as daunting.

Cline agreed tournament preparation would have been much easier on everyone if the volunteer count had been higher.

andquot;We need more people to be in charge of things,andquot; said Cline. andquot;Instead of one person being in charge of four or five things, as was the case this year.andquot;

Cline anticipated that the Board has so few volunteers because most people expect it to be a huge commitment.

andquot;People are afraid it’ll be 40 hours a week,andquot; Cline said.

But an increase in Board membership would actually prevent members from overworking themselves.

Kristy Boyd, the mother of La Grande shortstop Kurt Boyd, said her family is very connected to baseball. Both her sons are active in the sport.

Boyd cheered loudly throughout the last game to give her son’s team a boost.

andquot;They’re a good bunch,andquot; she laughed. andquot;I guess every mother says that, though.andquot;

Boyd, whose husband coaches the La Grande team, said that because both her sons play baseball, she often plans family vacations around games or tournaments.

Husband and wife dynamic duo Kathleen and Richard Chaves volunteered to work in the concession stands during the Baker vs. La Grande game. Their son plays in Little League but was not on the all-star team.

andquot;We wanted to give back to the organization because it does so much for our kids,andquot; said Kathleen Chaves. Her 10-year-old son has played since he started T-ball at the age of 6.

Chaves said it was her first year volunteering and she was amazed at what fun the experience had been.

andquot;It’d be more fun if we were winning,andquot; she joked.

Bouncy and full of energy, Chaves smiles wide and engages the customers in polite chitchat. She leans over the counter to take a little girl’s order, and sends the order back to her husband, who’s been coaching Baker Little League and Babe Ruther for 35 years.

Chaves said her favorite part is interacting with the younger kids who are so proud to come up to the concession stands and order a hot dog or popcorn all by themselves.

andquot;This is such a big deal to them,andquot; said Chaves.

Christina Lahaie, a 15-year-old softball player who also worked the concession stands, said talking to the younger kids when they came up to buy treats kept her going during the day.

andquot;I help out so the parents can actually watch their kids play,andquot; said Lahaie. She said she knew a lot of the kids out on the field.

Kathleen Chaves said she enjoyed working the concession stand because of the friendly climate and positive attitudes she encountered.

andquot;When we ran out of coins (in the cash register), parents told us to just keep the change,andquot; Chaves said.

She said business was booming for the snack shack, especially when 20 cheeseburger orders came in at once.

andquot;We want people to keep showing up,andquot; said Chaves. andquot;It’s good to have people cheering them on, and not just the Baker kids. A lot of kids’ parents work weekends, and it’s important to support them. All these kids are our kids Baker, La Grande. They’re going to build the next generation of our country.andquot;

Chaves remained in high spirits throughout the final game.

andquot;This is the one time kids get the chance to have fun and increase their self-confidence,andquot; said Kathleen Chaves. andquot;They get to feel really good about themselves.andquot;

Chaves said when her son, Dylan, entered the Minors and started andquot;smackin’ the ball,andquot; she noticed a physical change.

When her son came up to bat and hit the ball so hard it touched the back fence, he was absolutely thrilled.

andquot;He started walking taller because of it,andquot; said Chaves.

While the kids’ excitement make the tournament worth all the hard work, Chaves stressed the importance of helping out to prevent wasting money on jobs that volunteers could do for free.

andquot;It’s so important to Little League that people do volunteer,andquot; she said. andquot;Because we couldn’t afford to pay people in Baker for these positions.andquot;

Veteran volunteer John Robinson has been helping out with Little League for 20 years and said he enjoys watching the kids develop as players.

Robinson, who is the vice president of Little League Girls Softball, agreed that organizing such a tournament involves dedicated planning on the part of the volunteers.

andquot;We don’t get the number of people we need,andquot; said Robinson. andquot;People don’t realize what it takes. We put ads in the paper, had sign-ups, but we just don’t get too many people.andquot;

Robinson said he heard from one of the Board members that this year’s tournament had higher participation than in years past.