On February 10th, under the cover of darkness, someone drove onto RMHS’s fields complex and did donuts, potentially causing a season-altering set back to the baseball team.
Many parents, fans, and school officials learned about the damage at an RMHS Baseball social media account’s post. Tread marks from tires are clearly imprinted in the snow all around the mound and infield. Someone had driven on the baseball field to do donuts and seemingly have some “fun”. This was one of a series of events this winter where people had driven on the grass or other fields around RMHS. This just shouldn’t happen, especially when it can potentially delay a team’s already very short season.
Baseball and spring sports typically have very tight windows in which they can operate. The weather is already a big issue that the baseball and softball teams have to work around. School Resource Officer, Brian Lewis, knows that this issue puts the readiness of the field in question. Officer Lewis and others are trying to find the perpetrators of this crime. He stated, “Obviously people are doing stuff they are not supposed to do, which is bad. It can damage the field and it can delay the baseball season from starting if someone is driving on the baseball field.”
Similar events have occurred around Massachusetts as well. Back in 2021, Dighton, MA had a similar issue where someone tore up the grass on a pair of athletic fields. The culprit was eventually caught. Officer Lewis believes there are big penalties for those involved, especially if the field is damaged. He said, “If the person’s identified, they could be charged with malicious destruction of property. It’s a law that basically says that you know that what you’re doing is going to destroy something or could destroy something.” The severity of the crime all depends on how much damage is done to the field. More than $1,200 in damages would result in a felony charge in the state of Massachusetts.
These fields cost serious money to maintain, and damage to them could increase the amount of money that needs to be spent. Reading’s Athletic Director Thomas Zaya believes that damage would do just that. He stated, “I think if there’s damage, it would definitely take time and money from the Reading Park Department and DPW.” It is not just the damage caused to the field, but also the damage it has caused throughout the Reading baseball community. Reading Baseball’s Head Coach, David Blanchard, said, “Obviously, I am not happy about it.” Despite all this, Mr. Zaya is hopeful that the fields will be open on schedule. He said, “I hope they’re not going to be set back because of any tire damage or anything. I think it’s going to be more, how wet the fields are and how well they dry.”
Unfortunately, at the time being, there is not much that can be done but to wait for the snow to melt and hope that the damage is not too severe. Regarding the protection of the field, both Coach Blanchard and Senior Captain Ryan Marino (‘25), believe the town of Reading does their best to prevent events like this from ruining the field. “The way that they got into the field is not something that you would expect,” Coach Blanchard said. “You can’t protect everything that potentially could happen.” Both players and coaches are hopeful that the wait will not be long before they get back out on their home field.
