Hopewell Baseball leader urges Milton to secure four dedicated diamonds as program doubles

Ryan Lee, representing Hopewell Baseball, told the Milton Parks and Recreation Advisory Board on April 17 that the league has grown from about 400 participants when it restarted to roughly 800 now and urged the city to ensure four dedicated baseball diamonds at Deerfield Park.

Lee said the growth has strained field availability and contributed to older players leaving for private leagues: "15 to 20% of our kid pitch players leave Hopewell for private leagues because we don't have the fields to support the necessary activities," he said, noting that by age 14 many stop playing the sport without more diamond space.

The board did not act on a specific funding proposal during the meeting. Lee framed the request as community-driven and sought assurance that Deerfield's planned buildout would include four distinct baseball diamonds rather than multiuse surfaces: "These players need to be playing on baseball diamonds. Multi uses cannot happen. It's not safe," he said.

Staff and board members present acknowledged having received an official request related to field sizes and said Deerfield Park planning is advancing. The board's committee liaison noted they had pulled field-size recommendations from previous discussions to inform the design process.

The board thanked Lee for his comments and moved on to the next agenda item. No formal vote or commitment of funds for new fields was taken at the April 17 meeting; staff indicated the Deerfield concept will be presented to city council for feedback before advancing toward construction documents.