A new Wellsville athletic baseball/softball league has been established, giving children in the area an opportunity to compete in a renovated baseball field and play against more competitive teams this summer.

The Wellsville Community Athletic League was formed with 15 members, including president Amy Trent, vice-president Tyler Penn, secretary Lindsay Maylee, treasurer Tracie Schofield and board members Chad Schofield, Malayna and Jacob Carlisle, Danielle Bryson and Stephanie Shelley.

“I really feel like there’s a great group of young people coming in and I think once they get the hang of it, they’re going to step in and take over,” Trent said. “They’re going to do great things.”

The WCAL will have children between the ages of 4-15 playing baseball, softball and T-ball. Registration sessions were held on Feb. 8 and March 1 at the Wellsville Fire Department.

Games will be played at the Wellsville Kiwanis Ballpark. The Wellsville Historical and Preservation Society has helped make some improvements on the ballpark, such as getting new dugouts and new lights installed and putting up a brand new fence.

“They’re doing all kinds of work up there to get it ready for summer baseball and softball,” Trent said. “Especially in a small community, it’s just phenomenal what they’re doing up there.”

The WCAL will be competing in a league that is Little League sanctioned and includes neighboring communities such as Middletown, Martinsburg, Vandalia, Center, New London, Bowling Green and Louisiana.

“They run under slightly different rules, but I think that with the board on the top of it and with our new coaches, I think we will be able to implement those rules,” Trent said. “Change is a little different, but I think it’s going to be good. We offer ages up to age 15. Previously, we weren’t able to do that. It usually stops around 11 or 12, so we extended the age group. The teams that we will be seeing are a lot of teams that we’ll see in the EMO Conference when the kids get up into junior high and high school. I think they’ll see a little more competitive teams.”

The WCAL ran fundraisers such as a trivia night event on Jan. 25 and a shuffleboard tournament on March 8 to help raise money for equipment.

The league’s trivia night event was held at Grace Lutheran Fellowship Hall and had a movie theme.

“I felt it was very successful,” Trent said. “We feel that we got our name out there. We had great community support. We had multiple tables that we had sold. I think we sold 10-12 tables.”

The league is looking for coaches this summer. Participants must be at least 18 years old and pass a background check. Anyone who is interested can send a message on the WCAL Facebook page.