PORTSMOUTH, Va. - The Cavalier Manor Little League is looking for help after thousands of dollars worth of baseball and concessions equipment was stolen from a locked storage unit last week.
David Harris, President of the league, says he first learned what had happened last Wednesday when someone spotted the storage unit open. The chains locking the unit were cut.
Among the items taken were countless baseball bats, gloves, and jerseys. Harris says a freezer is also gone.
"Some of my kids' moms are single moms trying hard to keep them doing something and then you steal from them," said Harris.
Harris says the storage unit was packed full while a concession stand at the Cavalier Manor baseball fields was being renovated.
Now Harris says others in the local baseball community have stepped up to the plate to help.
That includes the Western Branch Athletic Club in Chesapeake, which collected nearly $500 and large amounts of equipment at a youth baseball sign-up Thursday.
“These kids learn life lessons, it keeps them off the streets. They realize they’re worthy, they’re good at something," said Lou Ann Leonard, a mom who led the effort.
There is also a GoFundMe page raising money for the league, which starts its season April 8.
"We're rushing now to try and regroup," said Harris who is still signing up kids for the season.
This is the second time in a month a Portsmouth-based little league has been hit.
In January, vandals were caught on camera trying to break into the Churchland Softball Little League complex.
Portsmouth police say they have not connected the two incidents and have not made any arrests.
