Workers, donors keep Chartiers Park diamonds shining
If you look closely on a pole near a baseball field at Chartiers Park in Bridgeville, you'll see a subtle reminder of flooding caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ivan that devastated the area in 2004.
Joe Verduci, president of the Bridgeville Athletic Association, points up more than 16 feet off the ground.
"We put a water line mark on where the water was. Just so we remember how high that water was there.
"It's something fun to walk past and we see that. It reminds us how much water truly was in this place. There were people losing homes, companies losing their businesses, and we got all this help here at the park. It was a whole community effort eight years ago and it's neat to look back and look at our fields now."
As children play baseball and softball on two diamonds, the area has been completely restored of any hints of flood damage.
Verduci said the comeback story caught the attention of Root Sports Pittsburgh, who interviewed Verduci and other members of the Bridgeville community for a story that aired during a recent Pittsburgh Pirates game.
"We had had 16 feet of water. It was above the crossbars. You couldn't see any of the pavilions or the concession stand. You could just see the peak of it. This whole thing was filled with water," he said.
"The biggest part of the whole thing is how everybody was involved in helping us get back here. We pretty much lost that whole season. Other surrounding communities let us use ball fields. Dick's Sporting Goods donated all kinds of equipment to us."
Verduci said many local athletic associations made donations to the BAA and sponsors DL Townsend Insurance Agency, Precious Paws and Teamus Construction donated $6,500 to purchase the state-of-the-art electronic scoreboards.
"I can't tell you how many man-hours. There were hundreds and hundreds of man-hours done on these fields just to get them back. The borough helped us out tremendously with PEMA (Pennsylvania Emergency Management Association) and workers putting up new fences. It was horrible here.
"It was all a team effort in the community."
Root Sports spoke with Verduci; Jim Struzzi, a PennDOT press officer who is on the athletic association's board of directors; councilman Jason Sarasnick; and Tim Colussy, whose Chevrolet dealership donates a new set of catcher's equipment each year.
"That's a big expense. You've got to replace that stuff. That has helped out tremendously."
Verduci said 265 children are playing baseball and softball this year at Chartiers Park.
"Look at how the program continues to benefit tremendously from all the things we have and all the things we continue to improve the parks with. It's very fulfilling to me."
Verduci says Bridge-ville's baseball and softball programs have a bright future.
"We continue to increase our numbers every year. This year, we didn't grow as much as in the last three years. There's a lot of sports. There's a lot of activities," he said.
"When I was growing up, everybody played baseball in the spring. Now there's a lot of competition for their time. But we're happy with the numbers."
He points over to a softball game in progress.
"We just keep going and the kids enjoy what they're doing. (This team's) losing 6-2 and they're all dancing in the dugout with their coach. They're having a blast."
