Fort Myers Beach baseball field set to get renovations after $50k grant

Thanks to a $50,000 grant from Scotts Refurbishment Program Grants and Major League Baseball, kids as young as five years old will play on the field in Fort Myers Beach, where they can feel like their athletic idols while playing.

Greg Scasny’s son Gage, 9, plays baseball at Bay Oaks.

“My son has long hair. He’s a beach kid… which is kind of funny because they mistake him for a girl, but he gets up to bat, and he swings really hard,” Greg said.

Gage has played America’s pastime for a long time, but on Sep. 28, Hurricane Ian hit Fort Myers Beach harder than a walk-off home run.

“It’s just tough on the kids because nothing’s the same,” Greg said.

WINK News spoke with Jeff Gauge, the interim cultural parks & rec director for Fort Myers Beach, about the baseball field.

“Emergency Management came, and they said, ‘Hey, can we use yours,’ since the bridge was closed, ‘Can we use your ball fields for a debris site?'” Gauge explained.

A field for kids to live out their dreams took on the appearance of a landfill after the storm.

Ashley Bachmann announced Fort Myers Beach won the 2023 Scott’s Refurbishment Program Grant.

“I wanted to congratulate you for winning one of our 2023 Scott’s Refurbishment Program Grants,” Bachmann announced.

“Oh my goodness,” Hauge said. “Thank you so much! It gives me goosebumps, honestly!”

While it’s a step in the right direction, baseball field repairs are expensive. WINK News was told while $50,000 is a lot of money, it’ll only cover paying for infield repairs. Which begs the question, what will the outfield look like?

But, when WINK News asked the parents about that obstacle, they said their kids have been through it all, so they’ll figure out a way through this too.