Durham baseball league celebrates a season that nearly didn't happen

Pat Nobles believes it because she experienced it.

"It is amazing what several neighborhoods can do when they work together," she writes in an e-mail message announcing Saturday's season-ending tournament for a Durham baseball league that almost didn't have a beginning this year.

On registration day this spring, Nobles and the other coaches, parents and players learned that their Durham Parks and Recreation Department league for players ages 13-15 had been eliminated because of budget cuts.

"They cut out all free programs, which is not good for teenage kids," Nobles said Friday in a telephone interview from the practice field.

It was spring, though, and the coaches would not be stopped.

"All the coaches and some of the parents got together," said Bull City Braves coach Tony Leak, 32, who played baseball at Durham Hillside High before graduating in 1995. "It was like, 'This was what the kids were looking forward to. ... Let's do our own league. We know how to do it.' "

So the coaches launched the newly named, five-team Durham All-City League themselves, and games were played on Saturdays at Crest Street Park, achieving a goal far greater than simply playing games.

The goal was to ensure that the teenagers had organized activities, said Leak, who works in fleet maintenance for Durham Public Schools and also is a bail bondsman.

"My biggest thing is the kids have something to do for the summer and stay out of trouble. ... I know how easy it is for them to get into the [justice] system, and how hard it is for them to get out of the system," Leak said in a telephone interview. "They look up to me like and older brother, and we have fun."

The summer of fun was accomplished at no cost to the players or their families.

"Not one dime," said Nobles, an assistant coach who did much of the legwork needed to keep the league playing. "That like to have killed us. The coaches paid for the umpires for the game. That's why for the tournament we begged them [the umpires] to do it for free so we could get the food for the kids."

The umpires complied. And others pitched in.

"Everything seems to be coming together," said Nobles, 51, who is the office coordinator at the Duke Center for Civic Engagement and ended up doing much of the coordination for the league as well. "White Rock [Baptist] Church gave us food for the 100 kids."

To raise money for tournament trophies and certificates for each player, parents and coaches sold hot dogs and drinks during games, and employees of businesses owned by Nobles' mother, Lula Jenkins, and her brother, Tony Jenkins, donated the rest.

And the city of Durham helped, too. The Parks and Recreation Department let the league use the field for free all season, marking the lines and providing the bases as well. Because the Crest Street Park has no shade, Nobles said, the league asked for a location with shade for the tournament, and a field at Hillside Park was made available.

At the South Roxboro Street facility, the league, with players from throughout Durham, will complete its season Saturday with a four-team double-elimination tournament and league cookout.

Competition starts at 9 a.m. when the Beta Phi Dodgers play the Yankees. At 11 a.m., the Bull City Braves play the Golden Bulls at 11 a.m. Games continue through the afternoon, and the championship game will start at approximately 6 p.m.

Having accomplished preserving this season for the players, Nobles has another goal. Her son, Lathan Nobles, 15, is a center fielder for the Braves, who went undefeated to win the seven-game regular season, and soon he will be too old to play in Durham Parks and Recreation youth leagues. Pat Nobles wants to ensure that her son and other youths his age can continue playing baseball.

"At 15, there's no level for them to get in," said Pat Nobles, whose love of playing softball led her to coaching kids in baseball. "We want to get sanctioned and take the level up. That's our long-term goal. ...

"It would have to be something like Babe Ruth or falling under another league's umbrella. ... The other leagues then could filter to our league, and then after our league, they're adults and they can play in the adult leagues."

As they play, the teenagers provide a service, Leak said, by setting a good example for children such as his 6-year-old son, Amaree, who loves being around the team.

"He's at the age where he sees other kids together, so he wanted to do the same thing," Leak said.

On Saturday, because of the efforts of Nobles, Leak and the other coaches, Amaree and the teenage players will spend one more day enjoying a baseball season that almost didn't happen.

*******

Report your own recreational sports news on the free community edition of Play! (You must be registered and logged in first.)

Or post a photo of your team or an outstanding individual competitor.

You'll also find an extensive Play! calendar of tryouts, tournaments, camps, clinics and events, including the Triangle's many running events.

Looking for a team or league? Try the Guide to Triangle Recreational Sports.

Does your team need equipment or donations, or do you have equipment or facility time to donate? Check out the Play! Exchange.

- Teri Boggess