easternlittleleague
baseball eastern little league
Championship games for the Eastern Little League divisions will be held June 16 at Ecton Park
When her son Steven played in Eastern Little League at Ecton Park 30 years ago, Nancy Jackson said the fields were lacking many of their modern-day luxuries. There wasn’t a grass infield or an electronic scoreboard, batting cages or a sound system.
“I’ve even noticed that most of the players [today] have their own equipment bag and water bottle,” she said.
Back then, Ecton Park had only one field to play on, and it looked over a cornfield, with a far-off view of houses mid-construction. Yet the players and parents were proud of their field and their league, which they had cared for since Eastern Little League was created in 1952, just a year after Lexington’s Little League program was established.
Eastern Little League played its games behind Morton and Cassidy schools until the 1970s, when it was moved to its current home on Turkey Foot Road. This season, Eastern Little League celebrates its 60th anniversary and a long history as the oldest continuously organized little league in Lexington.
“The people who put the time and the effort in to make Ecton Park [the home for Eastern Little League] came in all shapes, colors and sizes,” said Bill Cowgill, a coach in the ‘70s and ‘80s. “It has been nurtured by some of the biggest and more influential people in Lexington, but those same people put sweat in and worked hours and hours on this field in the beginning.”
Decades of dedication have paid off, and the league has competed at the highest levels of state little league baseball since as early as 1953, when it won the Kentucky Little League championship and advanced to the South Region championships in Greenville, N.C.
“We’ve had some tremendous athletes come through [the league],” Cowgill said. In fact, his two sons rank near the top of the Eastern Little League success stories – his older son, Michael, played professional baseball in the minor league system for the Minnesota Twins, and his younger son, Collin, is currently an outfielder for the Oakland Athletics.
While his sons learned the fundamentals of baseball in Eastern Little League, Cowgill said their years at Ecton were defined by something more important than RBIs and batting averages. “The special part was the families, the commitments and the effort to make this a central part of the Chevy Chase area,” Cowgill said. “Everyone in Eastern Little League raised [Colin and Michael]. We had great times with the friends that we made in little league. We were all friends, and we were all competitors.”
Today, though the scoreboard is electronic and parents receive automated text reminders for their kids’ games, league veterans say that the neighbourhood atmosphere that defined their own little league experiences remains the same.
“It’s a neighbourhood park that kids play baseball in, and I think that’s the greatest thing,” said Rob Hundley, who played in Eastern Little League as a kid and now coaches his son. “It has a very down-home feel, and you don’t get that much anymore.”
It is that essential characteristic that has drawn families back to Eastern Little League again and again, as parents want their children to experience baseball in this family-friendly environment.
“A lot of my buddies have kids that are in the league right now and they’re having the same experience that I had 30 years ago,” said Griggs Powell, who played ball at Ecton in the early ‘80s. For Powell, Eastern Little League holds an even dearer place in his heart, as his coach and father, Phillip Powell, died in the middle of the 1981 All-Star season. Phillip Powell had not only been president of the league, a coach and a player’s father, but he had been integral in building the park and had helped to plant the distinctive line of trees around the upper field.
“Here’s someone who was hyper involved, instrumental in the continuation of building on a solid base which had been there for several years,” Powell said. “[His death] was traumatic for everyone around that league.”
After his father’s passing, Eastern Little League became even more of a place that Powell could turn for support, and the tree-lined field was even named in memory of his father.
“It was important that my friends were there, and people I knew,” he said. “For me it was a very comfortable and warm place to be. Everyone knew everyone else.”
Still to this day, Eastern Little League remains a safe, nurturing place for its players and their families.
“Baseball in general teaches these kids great life skills,” said Brad Newsome, the league’s president. “The best hitters in the major leagues are only successful three out of 10 times. We’re teaching kids how to fail and how to handle failure, and how to embrace the success. We’re trying to teach them how to achieve success by working hard and working on the fundamentals. It’s just a fabulous life lesson for these kids.”
With enrollment numbers continuing to rise every season, extra fields at Lansdowne Merrick Park, and a renovation plan for much of Ecton Park, Eastern Little League will continue to thrive even after its 60th year celebrations are over.
“It is a place for the generations to carry on the rich tradition that encompasses Ecton Park, Powell Field and Eastern Little League,” Nancy Jackson said. “When I return [to Ecton Park], it brings back memories of friends who have passed away and positive thoughts for the futures of the players of today.”
The championship games for all of the Eastern Little League divisions will be held on June 16, and special anniversary tributes will continue at closing ceremonies.