Western Gateway Park Baseball Fields

Penn Valley ball fields undergo rehabilitation, 2009
and Shirl Mendonca writes in Grass Valley's THE UNION newspaper July 27, 2009

“Take me out to the ballgame, take me out to the crowd.”

And to the fun.

During the season, Western Gateway Park in Penn Valley is home to nearly 500 baseball games.

With four recently refurbished ball fields, the park is host to the Penn Valley Little League, the Ken Harper Master League for those over age 40, and the Gold Country Senior Softball League for those over age 50.

A few of the local schools use the ball fields for mid-week softball tournaments, and various tournaments are held at the fields on select weekends during the summer. This is a busy park when it comes to baseball and softball. It is also a very dedicated group of players … dedicated to the game and dedicated to taking care of the ball fields.

Little League has wrapped up for the season but there are still plenty of senior softball games to enjoy.

Gold Country Senior Softball is slo-pitch softball that began in the early 1980s. Team members re-draft at the start of each season and currently range in age from 50 to 81.

The seniors play with two first bases, one for the runner and one for the fielder to make it safer for a play at first base. They also use two home plates to avoid any possible collision at home.

These and other precautions are taken to make these games both safe and fun to watch. Everyone is out to have a good time, from the beginner to the 75-year-old superstar, including the two women who play and two current members who are in the Senior Softball Hall of Fame, Jim Tetzlaff and Ken Puckett.

This is also the league that volunteers countless hours keeping the fields in great shape.

With over 160 players in the senior league, there are 13 different teams to root for. The weeknight league consists of 10 teams that play on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 5:30 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. through August.

Three additional teams play on Saturday mornings at 9:30 a.m. and 10:45 a.m., and their weekly games last into September.

You can check out the team members, the stats for each player and check the schedule at www.gcssasoftball.org.

Dave Finch, a relative newcomer to Penn Valley and Lake Wildwood, had not played baseball in over 40 years. He joined one of the Saturday teams and has repeatedly mentioned to me what a great group it is and what a good time he is having.

Dave also commented on how the players take care of each other with true sportsmanship, offering encouragement, tips and camaraderie.

On a recent Tuesday evening, I caught a glimpse of these guys in action. And there was Jeff Ackerman out in left field. He had a great running shoe-top catch for the last out of the game. Nice grab, Jeff.