Webutuck baseball to split field time between campus and town park

Webutuck baseball to split field time between campus and town park
Taken in the spring of 2019, rising baseball players in the Webutuck Central School District were able to refine their skills on the field at Beekman Park in Amenia, thanks to an agreement set between Webutuck and the town of Amenia. File photo

AMENIA — With baseball season just around the corner, it won’t be long until players on the Webutuck Central School District’s (WCSD) baseball teams will have their moment to shine on the field. For the coming season, the Warriors will have the chance to play on their own field as well as the fields at Beekman Park (located at 5270 Route 22, Amenia), thanks to an agreement between Webutuck and the town.

When the district began work on its capital improvement plan this past summer, it started with the septic system; the baseball fields went under construction and therefore were inaccessible to the baseball teams for practice and games. The school district then reached out to the town of Amenia to request use of its baseball fields for all practices and scheduled home games for the 2021 season. 

Though the septic system was installed this past fall and the fields at Webutuck are now ready for use, Superintendent of Schools Raymond Castellani said the WCSD will use both its baseball field and the fields at Beekman Park as it will allow Webutuck more opportunities for its students to play baseball at all levels.

At its meeting on Thursday, April 1, the Amenia Town Board granted the WCSD a revocable license agreement (RLA) for the Webutuck High School varsity baseball program to use the baseball field at Beekman Park. The RLA’s term officially began on Monday, April 19, and will continue through Friday, June 4.

Included in the RLA’s terms, Webutuck will be responsible for preparing the fields before and after every game and cleaning the field, dugouts, bleachers and all other areas of all garbage. In addition to providing all supervision, coaches and instructors and obtaining and hiring all umpires, the school district will also be responsible for any damages that may occur. Meanwhile, Amenia will be responsible for all maintenance and repairs of the field’s facilities and will be responsible for providing the bases, pitching mound, pitcher’s rubber and home plate.

“We’re extremely grateful to have a partner in our students’ well-being, education and athletics in the town of Amenia,” said Castellani. “They have been extremely gracious in allowing our students to use the fields and continue to use those fields as needed.”

“We are also really excited that after over a decade of not being able to use our high school field, with the completion of our capital improvement project, our students will be able to play on the home field at their school,” he added.

The Webutuck Warriors varsity baseball team is scheduled to compete against the Dover Dragons at Beekman Park at 4:15 p.m. on Monday, May 3. That same day, the Webutuck junior varsity baseball team will compete at Dover at Dover High School at 4:15 p.m.

Latest News

Fallen trees injure man, destroy fences at dog shelter

Two uprooted locust trees still lie in the yard in front of Animal Farm Foundation’s original kennels where they fell on a fence during a storm on Thursday, June 19.

Nathan Miller

AMENIA — Fallen trees, uprooted and splintered during a thunderstorm, injured a man, destroyed fences and damaged a dog kennel at the Animal Farm Foundation facilities in Bangall.

Isaias Nunez was cleaning along a road on the property with Marco Ortiz, another employee of the dog shelter, when the storm rolled in on the afternoon of Thursday, June 19.

Keep ReadingShow less
Siglio Press: Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature

Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.

Richard Kraft

Siglio Press is a small, independent publishing house based in Egremont, Massachusetts, known for producing “uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.” Founded and run by editor and publisher Lisa Pearson, Siglio has, since 2008, designed books that challenge conventions of both form and content.

A visit to Pearson’s airy studio suggests uncommon work, to be sure. Each of four very large tables were covered with what looked to be thousands of miniature squares of inkjet-printed, kaleidoscopically colored pieces of paper. Another table was covered with dozens of book/illustration-size, abstracted images of deer, made up of colored dots. For the enchanted and the mystified, Pearson kindly explained that these pieces were to be collaged together as artworks by the artist Richard Kraft (a frequent contributor to the Siglio Press and Pearson’s husband). The works would be accompanied by writings by two poets, Elizabeth Zuba and Monica Torre, in an as-yet-to-be-named book, inspired by a found copy of a worn French children’s book from the 1930s called “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood).

Keep ReadingShow less
Cycling season: A roundup of our region’s rentals and where to ride them

Cyclists head south on the rail trail from Copake Falls.

Alec Linden

After a shaky start, summer has well and truly descended upon the Litchfield, Berkshire and Taconic hills, and there is no better way to get out and enjoy long-awaited good weather than on two wheels. Below, find a brief guide for those who feel the pull of the rail trail, but have yet to purchase their own ten-speed. Temporary rides are available in the tri-corner region, and their purveyors are eager to get residents of all ages, abilities and inclinations out into the open road (or bike path).

For those lucky enough to already possess their own bike, perhaps the routes described will inspire a new way to spend a Sunday afternoon. For more, visit millertonnews.com/tag/bike-route to check out two ride-guides from local cyclists that will appeal to enthusiasts of many levels looking for a varied trip through the region’s stunning summer scenery.

Keep ReadingShow less