FRUITLAND, Md. - The Fruitland Little League baseball fields were recently vandalized, leaving behind overturned equipment, a damaged scoreboard, and growing frustration among volunteers and community members.
Adam Manning of Fruitland Little League says the vandalism was discovered Sunday afternoon. The incident was later reported to the Fruitland Police Department, which is now investigating.
“All of the fields had trash cans dumped over, all of the fields had picnic tables flipped over,” Manning said. “And then from there, just like the physical damage to some of that infrastructure pieces of the scoreboards, which, again, they're very costly.”
Manning also says some of the damage included dents to a newer scoreboard and wires being pulled from equipment around the complex.
“Sunday afternoon, it was discovered and the board kind of jumped in immediately,” Manning told WBOC. “And we're trying to figure out things that we can do to help prevent it.”
Manning says the league — which is run by volunteers — has been focused on improving and updating the facility, making the incident especially discouraging.
“It's not the direction we want to go into,” Manning said. “Right now as a board, we're trying to be very active in making our facilities updated.”
The league is now discussing whether security cameras could help protect the property moving forward.
“We're going to discuss that as a board a little bit more,” Manning said. “Just to see if there is something that makes sense to put up to protect it. And then that way if somebody does something, they can be held accountable.”
Corporal Evan Gaba of the Fruitland Police Department says patrol checks around the fields will be increased while the investigation continues.
“You'll see officers driving around the Little League a lot more,” Gaba said. “We'll be driving around the parking lot, getting out of our vehicles, make sure we're looking at all the things that are out in the Little League fields.”
Sharon McBride of Fruitland also expressed disappointment after hearing about the vandalism.
“If you're an adult and you're doing this, you need to fix your head,” McBride said. “If you're a kid and you're doing this, your parents need to fix you.”
Fruitland Little League posted to social media asking anyone with information about the incident to contact the Fruitland Police Department.
