The struggle to keep Little League fields green

7:14 PM, Jul 10, 2012   |    comments
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The groundskeeper of the Georgetown Township Little League complex says it requires near-constant watering to make the fields playable.

GEORGETOWN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WZZM) -- Maintaining a baseball field isn't easy in drought conditions, no matter what level of ball you play.

WZZM 13's Brent Ashcroft discovered how difficult it is to keep a field in shape by tagging along with the head groundskeeper at the Georgetown Little League complex.

"I have to work on it just about every day to try to keep it up," says Dennis Noreen. "It's been one field after another. I can't keep enough water on them."

Noreen says it is not easy keeping the fields playable.

"This is the worst we've ever had it," he says. "This is like a drought."

Noreen maintains 14 different fields so the local Little League all-stars can keep playing.

"We have nine with sprinkling systems on, and we pick those fields for our tournaments and all-star games," he says.

Noreen's job starts early in the morning and continues late into the night, all to keep the field watered.

What does the groundskeeper say will help? "We need two inches of rain," says Noreen. "We can get these fields back.

"We're high profile. We get a lot of traffic on these fields. We're putting water on all the time to try to catch up to it."