ROSENDALE (NBC 26) — A brand new baseball field is being completed at Taylor Park in Rosendale.
Craig Shaver has been the assistant coach for Laconia High Schools baseball team for around seven years.
He says that several people noticed the need for improvements and agreed it was time to explore what a new field would potentially cost.
"It kind of got to a point where this diamond isn't terrible," Shaver said. "But it needs a lot of work."
After a year and a half of reaching out to local businesses and being patient, the goal of roughly $168,000 dollars was met through numerous local donors.
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Shaver says that starting the process of raising money was a little daunting.
"I didn't think there was a chance at first," Shaver said. "But it worked out quicker and better than I thought."
Longtime head coach of the baseball team Greg Smit says it's important to invest in local sports as someone who played at Laconia High School in his youth and now has kids of his own who went through the program.
"We had some great supporters and great coaches back then too," Smit said. "So now it's kind of my chance to try and give back."
While the students are excited to get a new field, he says it's also about realizing the importance of how tight knit the Rosendale and Brandon communities are.
As well as what they can accomplish if they put their minds to it.
"I hope that they can see that, Smit said. "And I think many of them will see that people do care about us and want the best for us. And give us the best experience possible."
Shaver indicated that the field will likely be completed in the coming weeks, well in time for the upcoming baseball season in the spring.
