Yelm rallies to support youth baseball league after theft -- and attracts big-league help
The Yelm community rallied to support the Nisqually Basin Youth Baseball league after someone stole thousands of dollars in equipment stored at Longmire Community Park on April 26. That effort caught the attention of some big-league boosters who have stepped in to help.
The day after the theft, the NBYB league started a GoFundMe page to raise $2,500 to replace the stolen equipment, which included a job box with a generator and pitching machine inside. As of Thursday, the league had raised $2,775 on their GoFundMe page.
But an additional $1,600 has been raised on another fundraising website run by Texas Rangers pitcher Gerald Smiley, and the Seattle Mariners have contributed $500.
“When we learned of the theft of their equipment, we immediately agreed to contribute to their fundraising effort.” Mariners senior director of public information Rebecca Hale said. “It fits with our mission to remove barriers for kids who want to play baseball and softball. And making it possible for more kids to play helps promote healthy kids.”
NBYB president Greg Ireland told The Olympian he was amazed by the community response. He said the crime was especially heinous because the kids had only recently started to play again after the pandemic shut down the league.
“We’re two or three weeks into the season, and somebody has the nerve to steal the kids’ equipment,” Ireland said. “It struck a nerve in the community, and all of a sudden people were sharing and I had my inbox flooded with messages.”
Ireland said the league has received several larger donations, including a $1,000 donation from the Yelm Police Guild.
“Things like that came out of the blue that we really didn’t expect,” Ireland said. “They just make you realize how grateful you are to live in a small town.”
The theft has impacted game and practice scheduling for the league, said NBYB board member Ciara Scott. The Rookie Division, where younger children play, depends on pitching machines and generators because these children do not pitch on their own, she said.
With just two pitching machines left, the league is forced to coordinate the transport of equipment from one field to another, Scott said.
The theft investigation
The Yelm Police Department shared a video on Facebook of a red Dodge Dakota leaving the park with the stolen equipment. So far, the video has been shared about 2,200 times.
Police have located the red vehicle and identified its owner but have yet to locate the owner or the stolen items, Yelm Police Chief Todd Stancil told The Olympian.
Just before 8 a.m. April 26, a city employee mowing the grass at Longmire Community Park recorded the video of the red truck, Stancil said. About a day after the theft, officers found the red vehicle at what Stancil called a “notorious” residence on Old McKenna Road, he said. Stancil said the residence has been connected to stolen items and narcotics in the past.
At this time, officers are looking for the driver of the red vehicle but are not asking the public for help, Stancil said.
This isn’t the first theft the league has experienced, Scott said. The league has reported two other thefts over the past month and a half — one where someone broke into an equipment shed and another where someone stole a generator from a different job box, Ireland and Scott said.
It’s unclear if the thefts are connected, Stancil said. Ireland said similar thefts have affected the league every season and he doesn’t have any idea why it happens.
“It’s hard to say,” Ireland said. “Who can say why people steal from kids? The pitching machine league is for 7- and 8-year-olds. It’s just heartbreaking.”
Following a previous theft, the league decided to invest in job boxes which are bolted to the ground and secured with chains and a lock, Scott said. But someone still managed to steal an entire job box in the most recent theft.
Where the funds will go
The league initially only sought $2,500 on its GoFundMe page but more money will be required to better the league and secure new equipment, Ireland said.
The league plans to purchase more generators and pitching machines so each team coach can check them out, Ireland said. This way, each coach would be responsible for securing the equipment at their own homes and transporting it to and from games, he said.
However, this model would require purchasing more equipment than the league previously owned. As a result, the league partnered with the Rangers’ Smiley to raise an additional $8,000 on his Chip-In fundraiser website.
“(Smiley) said it would be better if we could just issue a team a generator and pitching machine combination,” Ireland said. “The problem with that is it’s expensive — we’d have to do five of them, that’s (about) $6,000. So that’s when Smiley suggested doing the Chip-In campaign.”
In addition to purchasing more generators and pitching machines, the league intends to purchase tracking equipment worth at least $500 and about $3,000 worth of team gear, according to the fundraiser.
Ireland said they also plan to use some of the funds to eventually start up a new softball program for girls.
The Chip-In fundraiser offers some rewards, including a chance to win a baseball signed by Seattle Mariner outfielder Mitch Haniger and an invitation to a free pitching clinic with Smiley.
Aside from their $500 donation, the Seattle Mariners intend to provide the league with portable bases that can be used during practices, said the Mariners’ Hale.
To help support fundraising efforts, Ireland said the league invited internet celebrity K9 Arlo, a now-retired police dog that was wounded by friendly fire, and his handler to throw a first pitch at Longmire Community Park at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 8.
This story was originally published May 7, 2021 at 5:45 AM.
