Foundation funding: Oakville Little League ballfields sporting upgrades

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, April 1, 2026

When the Oakville Little League has its first home game on April 21, visiting teams will see ballfields that have had a significant makeover since they played last year.

New backstops, a batting cage and, coming soon, a concession stand. Through Grays Harbor Community Foundation grants, funding from the Chehalis Tribe and volunteer labor, the league has made upgrades to their fields that benefit both players and the Oakville community.

Oakville has had a Little League for years, playing at two fields: Charlie Harvey Field, and Josh Gillie Field. The Oakville School District owns the property, but the Oakville Little League and District have an agreement for the league to take care of and use the field.

Each year an average of 40 to 45 kids join the league, which fills three teams, said Chris Russell, acting president of the Oakville Little League.

For over a decade, Russell has been involved with the league, having joined when his son began playing in Little league. Although he coached and volunteered with the league, it wasn’t until recently he attended board meetings and joined the board, filling the role of vice president.

Replacing the ballfield’s backstops had been a recognized need for years. The backstops also weren’t tall enough to prevent foul balls from going over the top and hitting cars. And “in the summertime once dirt dries, you could have walked up to those things [the backstops] and move them,” Russell said. “They shook [because] they were just old creosote poles.”

To give a sense of how old these poles were, Russell suspects they date to when his dad played at the fields.

“He was born in ’63, so they’ve been down there a very long time,” he said.

Katie Austin, secretary of the Oakville Little League and Russell’s wife, researched funding opportunities and found the Grays Harbor Community Foundation. She reached out, and several staff members paid a visit to the fields to see the state of the backstops. Russell recalled staff members saying, “‘OK, we’ll just go back and get this approved and you guys should have it.’”

And last year, the Oakville Little League was awarded a $25,000 Community Building Grant.

Paul LaDue, owner of LaDue Fencing, Inc. based in Elma, visited the ballfields and provided a bid for the work. In January, his crews had to work between bouts of inclement weather, but LaDue completed the work “before the season even started so it just worked out perfect,” Russell said.

The new backstops are taller, which means “there’s no balls getting over that sucker, or fingers crossed, nothing’s getting over that one,” Russell said. “It’d be a pretty good foul ball.”

Of what the materials used to construct the backstops, he described it as “all commercial grade stuff because a lot of other schools have gotten it done, but they had residential stuff put in and well, then they’re falling over.”

Additionally, Oakville-based DJ Blake’s Construction did field work.

The grant from the Grays Harbor Community Foundation didn’t fully cover all the upgrades and the remaining amount was covered by the Oakville Little League.

Last year, the Oakville Little League received a smaller grant from the Grays Harbor Community Foundation that was used to renovate an existing shed into a concession stand, and Russell is optimistic that the stand will be operating for the upcoming 2026 season. Of the Grays Harbor Community Foundation, “I couldn’t be more grateful for them,” Russell said.

Another new addition to the ballfields is a batting cage made possible by a grant from the Chehalis Tribe. For this project, Russell, his brother, Randall, Austin’s dad, Jack Bramer, and Sean Sellers built the cages.

Another improvement Russell and Austin did was place corrugated pipe on top of all the fencing to keep the fencing safe.

As for how the ballfields look now, “it actually looks like a real-life ballfield,” Russell said.

The improvements have been noticed by the community.

“We’ve been having practices down there on the fields and I get a lot of comments from local parents on how many great things we’re doing and how much better the fields look,” said Russell. “And even older ladies say, ‘Wow, that’s the best I’ve ever seen the Harvey Field look.’”

And it’s not just the Grays Harbor Community Foundation and the Chehalis Tribe that have supported the Oakville Little League. Last year, the Oakville City Council agreed to donate $500 for the purchase of equipment, such as cleats, bats and mitts, for the kids.

“This really helps with that kind of small stuff like that, because $40, $50 here and there, it does [add up],” said Russell.

Also last year, T-Mobile provided $750 in sponsorship, which Russell said was used to fund field maintenance and new equipment, and for this year’s season, the league received $1,000.

“T-Mobile is committed to ensuring that every young player has the opportunity to participate without placing a financial burden on their families, especially given that our community is predominantly low-income,” Russell shared via email. “We are thrilled to collaborate with them once more and aspire to continue this partnership for many years to come.”

High school students have also volunteered with the ballfields upkeep by coming out to weed, mow the fields and pick up garbage.

This past weekend, Russell and volunteers went to the ballfields to get some work done and saw six kids using the batting cages.

“I thought, this is awesome; that’s what I want to see,” Russell said.