Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 87F. Winds light and variable..
Mainly clear. Low 69F. Winds light and variable.
Volunteer grounds crew members prepare the ball field for a game after rain delays at Elm Street Park on Friday.
Chris Ball, head groundskeeper for the Little League Softball World Series, stands on the field at Stallings Stadium during a rain delay. Ball and his grounds crew of 16, the first all-female crew in history, had to wait through hours of delays before Friday's softball action began just after 1:30 p.m.
Little League Softball World Series Head Groundskeeper Chris Ball speaks to a volunteer grounds crew member before the crew removes the rain tarp from the field at Elm Street Park after the rain subsides on Friday, Aug. 12.
Volunteer grounds crew members shovel water and pull the rain tarp from the ball field at Elm Street Park on Friday, Aug. 12.
Volunteer grounds crew members prepare the ball field for a game after rain delays at Elm Street Park on Friday.
Little League Softball World Series Head Groundskeeper Chris Ball speaks to a volunteer grounds crew member before the crew removes the rain tarp from the field at Elm Street Park after the rain subsides on Friday, Aug. 12.
Volunteer grounds crew members shovel water and pull the rain tarp from the ball field at Elm Street Park on Friday, Aug. 12.
For Chris Ball, readying the field at Elm Street Park for this year’s Little League Softball World Series might be a dream job. The job put him to the test after heavy rain on Friday.
Showers fell on and off prior to what was supposed to be a 10 a.m. start for the tournament with a game featuring the North Carolina champs from Pitt County against the West Region team from La Verne, California.
Chris Ball, head groundskeeper for the Little League Softball World Series, stands on the field at Stallings Stadium during a rain delay. Ball and his grounds crew of 16, the first all-female crew in history, had to wait through hours of delays before Friday's softball action began just after 1:30 p.m.
Tarps covering the field protected the grounds from more than an inch of rain that fell over the course of 24 hours. Due to the age of the field at Stallings Stadium, Ball said that could have been an issue, particularly in the outfield where water collects.
“We don’t have proper drainage, we don’t have proper irrigation,” Ball said. “There’s a lot of old nuances to this old field.”
Crews laid out the tarp in the infield shortly after the games Thursday night, with extra tarps beneath to protect the pitcher’s mound and home plate. On Friday morning industrial fans were placed beneath the tarp to promote airflow.
About 12:30 p.m. the grounds crew, made up of 16 women for the first time in Little League World Series history, began their work of removing the tarp and getting the area set for play.
That meant touchups in the outfield as well as getting the tarp bailed out and rolled without spilling moisture. The crew was excited to get the field in shape, with the game between Pitt County and California team picking up at 1:34 p.m.
“We get some sun, we get a little breeze and this lets up we’ll be good,” Ball said in the midst of the delay. “This little ballpark, when it’s go time, it always seems to shine.”
Ball knows the park well. As a boy, the Pitt County native played at Stallings Stadium at Elm Street Park in the late ’80s. In high school, he worked as a small fry baseball coach with teams at the park. In 1999, after Hurricane Floyd battered eastern North Carolina, Ball was among the crew to repair his home field.
“The place, obviously, was flooded and beat to smithereens,” Ball said. “We brought a team of professional field managers in here and we redid it. We felt like it was a get-well card for the city, for the area.
“Elm Street Park and Greenville Little League is a big centerpiece of this city. It is a big, big part of the city in this area. We were able to come in and give them this get well card and Brian (Weingartz) came in and maintained the effort we put forth for a long, long time.”
Weingartz, who serves as commissioner of the Little League World Series of Softball in addition to the commissioner of Little League in Pitt County, said that Ball is a remarkable asset in putting on the series.
“Chris Ball is a phenomenal groundskeeper,” Weingartz said. “He really has a passion for the park here. I don’t know what we’d do without him. He does a lot getting the field ready for us. He’s a professional unlike the amateurs who usually take care of the field.
“It’s a blessing having him, I’ll tell you that.”
Ball moved back to Greenville in 2017 after spending more than two decades as a field manager at Minor League Baseball parks for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans and Gwinnett Braves, now the Stripers. He has now switched into a sales role for Ewing Irrigation but focuses only in the sports field business. In 2019, after it was announced the city would be home to the series, Weingartz approached him about managing the field for him.
“I said, yeah,” Ball said. “I’ll do anything you want.”
That entailed a long process beginning in June, when Ball and his team made sure the field had proper nutrition and monitored the transition from baseball to softball. It is hard work, but it also allows him to get hands-on again doing what he loves — field management.
“That was the first stage of my career for 20-some-odd years,” Ball said. “Now I have a family and my career has taken a little bit of a different turn. To be able to come and get my hands dirty, help orchestrate this incredible event, is really cool to me.
“I spent a lot of time here. I played here, I coached here in high school. My little brother played here and (I got to) watch him while he was growing. It’s just really special to me.”
Friday morning’s rains put the tournament a full game behind schedule. It rained again Friday afternoon. Roger Martin, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Morehead City, said the forecast is sunny for today until possible showers move into the area Sunday night.
Monday’s championship and consolation bracket games broadcast on ESPN’s flagship network will see a chance of showers from 8-2 p.m. followed by a chance of showers and thunderstorms following.
Contact Pat Gruner at pgruner@reflector.com and (252)-329-9566.
Whether teams have traveled 8 miles or 8,000 miles from their home field to Greenville’s Elm Street Park for the Little League Softball World …
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