In the latest move in the skirmish over Blythewood’s limited ball fields, the Blythewood girls’ softball board was asked last week to vote on whether they would consider moving their organization under the umbrella of the Blythewood Baseball League (BBL).
Although sharply divided, the board voted 6-5 to enter discussions with the BBL. The BBL board met a week later, on Nov. 18, to formally discuss the ramifications of including girls’ softball in the BBL.
Under that scenario, the girls would be registered to play softball through the Dixie League, the same league the BBL is registered with.
According to Thomas Massey, president of the softball board, announcements in this regard have not yet been made to the softball board by the BBL.
One source not authorized to speak for the BBL, told The Voice that the BBL would need some time to reach out to the Dentsville Softball League where girls from Blythewood are boundaried to play. Blythewood area girls playing in the Dentsville League softball boundaries would be impacted by new Dixie League softball boundaries.
Bill Trapp, president of the BBL, told The Voice, that the issue will be solved with more fields, primarily those expected to be finished in the next year or so as part of the County’s new Kelly Mill complex.
A member of the BBL board who was present at the meeting on Sunday said that everything is going to work out well and that everyone, both on the baseball side and on the girls softball side, are going to be extremely happy with how things are going to turn out.
Some parents of softball players have expressed concern in phone calls and letters to The Voice that when Blythewood girls softball was taken in by the BBL in the late 1990s, that things didn’t work out and the girls had to move their games to Dentsville while the BBL stayed in Blythewood.
A source on the BBL board told The Voice that won’t happen this time.
The Richland County Recreation Commission and the Town of Blythewood have committed to temporary relief from field shortages in the spring by providing a field at the Community Center for Spring Ball of 2013.
Trapp said the girls will not be relegated to the Community Center with the boys at the Blythewood Park fields.
“We’re looking at a mix of the two groups using all the fields,” he said. “Both groups will use each field. Smaller fields might be better suited to T-ball and Coaches Pitch and the bigger fields more suited to the older baseball and softball teams.”
