Apr 14, 2002 By Steve Ferris 5 min read

CALIFORNIA – The California Youth Baseball Association and the Italo-American Citizens Club formed a relationship that has provided 35 seasons in the sun for area boys and girls. With the 36th season set to begin April 27, the association is in the midst of a drive to raise $50,000 to buy the fields from the club.

The club, which organized in 1943 to help Italian immigrants learn the English language, has allowed the association to use the Little League fields at no cost since 1966.

However, as the club’s membership and bar business have dwindled over the years, so has its operating budget.

Without enough money to make long-needed renovations, the club offered to sell the two ball fields to the non-profit association.

The association decided it wanted the fields and began a fund-raiser with the goal of collecting $50,000 over four years to buy them.

“We have to raise over $50,000 over a four-year period,” said Jenny Galis, who has been leading the league’s fund drive. “We’ve already raised almost $17,000. There’s a $20,000 payment due on July 31.”

With the help of California Historical Society, Galis researched the history of the league and fields, and some of that nostalgia will be displayed during the April 27 Little League opener.

The league played at “The Bottoms” field, which is now Rotary Park, before 1966, and opening day was celebrated with a parade. The young ball players dressed in their wool uniforms and marched through town to the field for the first game. The mayor threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

The spectacle will be re-enacted this year, but the teams might not be asked to march up the steep Wood Street hill to the Italian Club fields on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Instead, they will participate in a parade through town and then gather at the field for a brief opening ceremony, Galis said. Mayor Gerald Gardner has been asked to throw out the first ball.

“It was a big thing for the kids to march in a parade with their uniforms. Baseball has always been big in California, like basketball is in Uniontown,” Galis said. “My kids don’t even play on (the Italian Club) fields anymore. I would like to see my grandkids play on those fields.”

The next step in the “Diamonds are Forever” campaign to buy the fields is a children’s clothing flea market scheduled for Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the club, also located on Pennsylvania Avenue.

In a joint effort with the Allenport Volunteer Fire Department, the league planned a golf outing June 8 at Duck Hollow Golf Course.

A dance is set for June 29 at the California Hill Gun Club, and a steak fry/community appreciation day will be held July 6 at the field.

“Diamonds are Forever” T-shirts are available for $10, and the organization is selling the “Baseball’s Busy Families Cook Book” for $10. The cookbooks can be purchased at Redstone Pharmacy, California University’s bookstore, Michelle’s Nails and Tanning on South Ridge Road and Donna’s Kids Store in Charleroi.

If the association buys the fields and dissolves sometime in the future, the club will have the option of reclaiming ownership. If the club does not want the fields, the borough will own them. Borough council agreed to the arrangement last week.

“The Italian Club has been so gracious to let us use those fields for no charge,” association president Terry VanOlst said when he addressed council Thursday.

The field plays host to the area’s youngest ball players. The Shetland league is for kids 5 to 6 years old, Pinto is for 7- and 8-year-olds, Mustang is for 9- and 10-year-olds and Bronco is for 11- and 12-year-olds.

The Pony League plays at the gun club field, and Colt and Legion leagues use the California Area High School field.

The California Youth Baseball association is part of the Vesta Youth League.

VanOlst said the association has an average of 140 to 150 players every year. “That’s been pretty consistent,” he said. The club paid the taxes on the fields, he said, and the association maintained them.

“The club basically let us use the property for the last 35 years. I want it to be used for the next 35 or 50 years,” VanOlst added. “The community and the league are coming together better than I’ve ever seen. I’d like to get it done in two years”

Philip Difilippo, who recently stepped down as club president after 20 years in the post, said concerns about drinking and driving have greatly reduced the bar business. “Things have been a little rough,” Difilippo said. “It’s not like the old days. People have parties at home now.”

A change in ownership won’t erase the memories of youth baseball in California.

Difilippo recalled one player whose arm carried him all the way to the Major Leagues.

Even though Bruce Del Canton played Little League at “The Bottoms” before club fields opened, his legacy remains etched in California’s memory.

Del Canton pitched for California University of Pennsylvania, carrying a stingy 1.03 earned run average in 1962 for the Vulcans. He went on to pitch out of the bullpen for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Kansas City Royals. He also was a pitching coach for the Atlanta Braves.

“The history is the neat thing about it,” VanOlst said.

Galis discovered from her research that Ed Hollowood was first to bring the idea of Little League to California in 1954. Some of the teams then included the Young Men’s Club Pirates, Moose Dodgers and Rotary Cardinals.

In more recent history, the Vesta League all-star team played in the 1987 Pony League World Series in Washington.

Last year, the high school team won a WPIAL championship, and the association’s Mustang, Pony and Colt teams won titles.