EPHRATA – Over the last week, the ballfields outside of Parkway Intermediate School have been undergoing some upgrades. According to Ephrata School District's Director of Communications, Sarah Morford, the fields needed repair.  

“We recognized our impact on those fields, because of physical education (classes) and recess, we've got a lot of kids out there on a regular basis, and noticed the rookie field, which is the field that's immediately outside of Parkway and faces Parkway Boulevard, was in need of repair. So, we decided this summer to bring that field up to grade,” Morford said. 

The ballfields are owned by the City of Ephrata and maintained by the schools, Morford said. The district is collaborating with Ephrata Youth Baseball to execute the project. They reached out to President Austin Chamberlin to begin organizing the resources for this project.  

Chamberlin said Adam Roduner, the head of maintenance in Ephrata Schools, reached out to begin discussions of this project. He was eager to collaborate on this project because it would have been a huge undertaking for the youth baseball board to take on themselves.  

“It'll actually be a huge improvement to that field, because I used to play on that field when I was a little kid, and it looked just like the majors feel, it had grass and looks like an actual baseball field, not the way it does now,” Chamberlin said.  

He said the board was able to obtain donations from local businesses in the area to assist with the field upgrades. Tommer Construction donated four loads of dirt and offered to bring more if needed, Chamberlin said. Gray Excavation donated their labor to retrieve the dirt and deliver it to the field outside Parkway Intermediate.  

Chamberlin played for Ephrata youth baseball and now his kids play for the group. When he became more involved in the community as an adult, he saw an opportunity to give back and contribute to the league that was a part of his childhood.  

“I just wanted to be involved in the board and the decisions and just make sure that this thing keeps running smoothly. Then we had the president for seven or eight years before me, he was stepping down. So, then I got nominated to be president ... The board is great; this is not a one-man show by any means,” Chamberlin said.  

As a risk manager for Risk Solutions, Chamberlin works with two school insurance pools. He’s also coached in the past at the high school level.  

“I just love baseball. I played through high school and then in college. This is just kind of what my calling is,” he said.  

Chamberlin said he was pleased to see how the community in Ephrata jumped at the opportunity to support the youth baseball league and the school district.  

“We're actually incredibly lucky here,” he said. “We could not run our program anywhere near as successfully as we do without them and probably wouldn't be able to get by at all, it's just an absolute blessing to have the support that we do.”  

The field renovations will be completed by the start of school Aug. 28, Morford said. Chamberlin said the field upgrades are going to be beneficial for the students at Parkway Intermediate, who use the field for recess, and the players in the baseball league. Not only will the field look better for them, but it will also be better to play on.  

“When you play on a really nice field, it just kind of creates a better atmosphere and gets more kids out, presents a better attitude and just makes for a much better experience,” he said.  

    A baseball field at Parkway Intermediate School in Ephrata is undergoing renovations. The school district is collaborating with the Ephrata youth baseball league to upgrade the ballfield.