Ballfields way overdue for North River

The first pitch was a half-hour away the other evening and the ballplayers were awestruck.
The North River American Little League Marauders, all 8-10-year-olds, could not believe their eyes when they saw the ballfields at Lakewood Ranch Park the other evening.
"A couple of kids said, ‘Coach, look at the grass on the infields. Look at the bullpens. Look at the dugouts,’" Derek Goforth recalled. "Then they said, ‘How come we don’t have nice fields like this?’"
That must’ve killed Goforth, who’s also the Little League president.
It’s a tough question without an easy answer.
Not one Goforth can say to young ears.

Read more Sunday in Mannix About Manatee on Bradenton.com.