On the right side of the picture are past board members/coaches (Joel Dahlberg and Jason Yohe). On the left side are current board members/coaches (Tyler Borowoski, Courtney Sampson, Kristy Winchester). The players are current little league players from all levels (teeball, rookies, minors, and majors).

ELLERY – Members of the Maple Grove Little League in the town of Ellery saw their first home run without even taking the field thanks to a group of volunteers who installed their first-ever electronic scoreboard this season.

“This has been years in the making,” says Kristy Winchester, a reading teacher at Fletcher Elementary School who serves as president of Maple Grove Little League.

The league’s Board of Directors loaded the bases in 2019 with the construction of a snack bar that brought electricity to the field paving the way for a future scoreboard. But then COVID hit and led to a delay of game on the effort while fundraising efforts continued.

“After talking to Jason Yohe (past league president) and knowing the time they had put into getting things ready for it, I wanted to see it through,” says Winchester. “The current board of directors purchased the scoreboard this season and had it installed.”

Six teams representing about 70 players use the field four to five nights a week.

“Our regular season finished up this week,” says Winchester. “Now we will have 8- to 10-(year-old) All-Stars using the field. Maple Grove Little League is hosting a semifinal and the finals this year.”

A lot of people helped pitched in to make Ellery Park a field of dreams but who’s keeping score? Winchester is.

“(The) town of Ellery helped with the beams and got the scoreboard hung. Ahlstrom Schaefer donated the tools needed to wire the scoreboard. Journeyman Eric Vanstrom, Journeyman Carl Linamen, and apprentices from IBEW Local 106 wired the scoreboard. Maple Springs Gravel, Allied Alarm Services, Lenart Excavating, Southern Tier Dentistry, and Heathen Household Services covered expenses.”