BASEBALL
During the tournament, Guthrie posts a job board each day and conducts a morning meeting to go over everything with the volunteers and assign sections and roles.
“ I get them 95 % there, and they come in and put the finishing touch on everything,” he said.“ Once they come in, it takes a little bit of stress off me. I don’ t have to worry quite as much about doing everything myself.
Leading up to this year’ s LLBWS, Guthrie faced some challenges in the form of dry weather in late July and early August, as well as a last-minute well pump replacement.
“ I was scrambling a little bit just to get everything put back to how it should be,” he said.“ But by the time the kids showed up, everything was good. It was nice baseball weather. I think this was a record low number of tarp pulls— two per field— which everybody appreciates. Overall, it was a really good series.”
Said Fowler,“ A lot of people say to me,‘ Nothing ever changes. It’ s the same every year.’ There are a lot of things that are similar every year; but the one thing that changes is the kids who are playing on the fields. It’ s special for me to be able to help prepare those fields for the event, trying to ensure they are as safe and playable as we can possibly make them.”
The other thing that keeps Fowler coming back and involved with the volunteer effort is the bond he has formed with Little League Baseball and with the people who have worked on the crew throughout the years.
“ It’ s like a family reunion every year that we get together to do this,” he said.“ We bring in new people every year; and we have some who have been returning for as many years as I’ ve been there, or longer. The camaraderie and passion for sports field management is so prevalent in the group that it’ s just a fun time to be around those people.”
In addition to Fowler, this year’ s volunteers included( in alphabetical order by last name) Warren Albert; Wayne Barrs; Mark Berry; William Boll; Gerard Cannata; Scott Chambers;
Photo by Matt Duncan
Photo by Jess Tobias
Photo by Matt Duncan
sportsfieldmanagementonline. com October 2025 | SportsField Management
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