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Turf Battle: Hughson Leaders Make Baseball Field Unplayable After Bay Area Teams Seen Playing

HUGHSON (CBS13) — Summer baseball is on pause in California since coronavirus hit, but that didn't stop a couple of Bay Area teams from traveling all the way to Stanislaus County to play ball.

Hughson Mayor Jeramy Young says the city received complaints during the weekend of June 27 that teams were seen playing on fields. The city manager discovered the teams were from the Bay Area and asked them to leave, but they declined, forcing the city manager to call the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office

"Once the sheriff's department arrived, the groups agreed to leave because it was a violation of the state order," Young said.

Young said it wasn't fair for local players to see non-locals using their fields.

"We canceled our little league season. They can't play and for them to come by and see teams from out of the area using the fields really sends a bad message to our kids who live here in the community," Young said.

But Hughson-area coaches say city staff handled the situation poorly because after the Bay Area teams' foul play, the city took the field away from everyone.

"My kids were really upset that they couldn't get some practice in," coach Juan Carlos said.

Mayor Young says the city had the best intentions.

"The city staff decided to try to make the field unplayable so we wouldn't have to staff it or use staff resources to enforce the order," he said.

The City of Hughson has since fixed the fields, but still, no games are allowed.

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