Bowser Complex goes batty for Babe Ruth championships

LYNN – If there’s one word to describe the people who work tirelessly to organize and run the Babe Ruth League in Lynn, it would be dedicated.
A group almost entirely made up of volunteers who give their free time to provide kids ages 13 to 15 a place to play baseball and softball are hosting two simultaneous Eastern Mass. tournaments at the Bowser Complex in Lynn this week, an unprecedented event.
It’s the first time that two EMass. tournaments have been held in the same place at the same time.
?We didn?t plan on hosting anything, but the league came to us and said ?We need your help, we need you to host not one, but two,?” said Lynn Babe Ruth president Jim Beliveau.
The Bowser Complex is the perfect setting for the 13- and 14-year-old tournaments. Not only have Lynn teams had great success through the years, but the complex itself makes for a great baseball-watching experience. With lights, restrooms, a fully stocked concession stand and meticulously kept fields, there may not be a better place for a tournament. And there may not be a better group to be putting it all together.
Each game usually requires at least six volunteers to keep everything running smoothly. From keeping score to announcing to running the scoreboard, this week?s events have had the Lynn league scrambling to find twice as many volunteers to man a few quadruple-headers.
The board of directors of Lynn Babe Ruth, headed by Beliveau and vice president Jeff Earp, as well as other volunteers, have been working nonstop to orchestrate the tournaments. On any given day during the summer, especially around this time, it’s not uncommon to drive by the Bowser Complex and see Sean Leydon raking the dirt or Leon Elwell, who also coaches the Lynn 14s, lining the field, preparing the diamonds for play.
But the hard work has paid off, both for this tournament and all the ones before it. The field is widely regarded as one of the best in the region, which makes it an obvious choice to host not just one, but two tournaments.
?It?s a huge undertaking,” said Earp. “But it?s all about pride. You want to put forth a great product. Nothing makes us happier than when we hear ?Wow, your field looks great,? or ?You guys do a great job.? It means a lot to us.”
?I?ve been a lot of places, following my (sons) around, and this is one of the best (fields),” said Elizabeth Lilja, a volunteer whose son plays in the Babe Ruth League.
It?s been a long season of baseball for the Lynn residents in charge of the city?s Babe Ruth program, and hosting four games a day over the last few days has forced them to give even more of their time. But even though most of the volunteers? children have outgrown Babe Ruth and moved onto high school and college, there?s something that keeps drawing them back.
?I like seeing the kids grow up,” said Meagan Leydon, who runs a one-woman kitchen in the concession stand and has worked as the cook for more than 10 years. “These guys I work with, they just care about the kids in the city, and that?s why they do it. It takes a lot of work and a lot of man hours. It?s impressive.”
?Just seeing the kids out here playing baseball, doing the right thing, not hanging out on the street corner and seeing the kids grow up (is rewarding),” said Sean Leydon, Meagan?s brother, who has been helping out the league for the past three years.
Despite the hours of labor putting together the tournament takes, everyone seems to agree that it?s worth it in the end.
?When I look up there and I see our banners, or I see some of the kids that are now (in their 20s), and they say, ?Hey coach, remember the All-Star Game? Remember this, remember that??” said Beliveau. “They still call you ?coach.? That?s the best. That?s what we get out of it. ”
Katie Morrison can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @KatieMo61.