Flooded baseball field put a damper on local little leagues

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- From first base to the outfield, Mother Nature has transformed Harry Goorabian Park in Northeast Fresno into a lake.

The President of the River Park Little League, Tim Bennett, said, "We've been joking around about having some boat races out here, but unfortunately, we are going to have to wait until next week before we can play baseball."

This means bad news for the River Park Little League. Because of the flooding, they have to cancel all of this week's games. Bennett estimates it will take about three to four days before they can start cleaning up.

"It will recede and will require a lot of effort to blow a lot of the dirt back and reset the fields with new dirt."

Over in Reedley, the local little league is having similar problems-- their baseball field at Camacho Park is submerged. The flooding happened at both fields because they are built on flood basins, meaning excess water gets sent there.

Trey Brown, Reedley Little League Safety Officer, said at the moment they're playing the waiting game.

"We are just waiting for the ditch water to go down a little bit, once it goes down, they'll start pumping the water out."

Until then, Brown said they'll have to postpone games. The only thing he and Bennett can hope for now is lots of sun and wind to dry up the fields quickly.