An act of vandalism struck the Orangevale Pony Baseball League this past Sunday, July 5, around 9:30 p.m. at Louis Pasteur Middle School.
A fire, suspected to be caused by fireworks, destroyed two porta potties and caused damage to their bleachers and dugout. The incident could threaten to disrupt upcoming practices and games, especially when fall ball comes back in August.
Lead coordinator of the baseball league Alicia DeMerritt said the league no longer has the insurance to help pay for damages since this incident has happened in the past.
“We are kind of out about $4,500 because we have to pay for the porta potties and things of that nature,” DeMerrit said. “We spent over $15,000 this year putting all of our money that we made back into the league and getting new equipment and upgrading all of our fields, so it was quite a shock.”
DeMerritt said the league isn’t permitted to use the school bathrooms on campus, so there would be no way kids and parents will be able to go during the game.
“No one can go to the restroom,” she said. “There's absolutely no bathrooms, so that kind of stinks, but we'll survive that part, but in August, when fall ball starts, it will affect everything.”
Michael Corbett, the league player agent, mentioned that this isn’t the first time there has been vandalism done to the porta potties.
“They've been tipped over, they've been set on fire before, and it's to the point now where we can't insure those porter potties,” Corbett said. “Anything that happens to them, we are paying out of pocket for, and that ultimately comes out of the pocket of the parents and their kids who are playing.”
Corbett said the negative effect of the vandalism would mean the league would potentially have to raise league fees to cover for those types of incidents.
“That's really not where the money should be going,” he said. “The money should be going right back into the kids, right back into investing in our coaches and investing in our field, so that everybody has a great opportunity to play on nice fields, work with well-educated coaches, and ultimately have an affordable experience too.”
The baseball league is important to the community, according to Corbett, who has two kids that are involved.
“It's a small league, but it's one big family that kind of comes together to make things happen,” he said. “It's an incredible community experience centered right in the heart of Orangevale, and we've had thousands upon thousands of kids pass through.”
DeMerritt said she wants to bring this act of vandalism to people’s attention. She said they plan to put a fence around the porta potties so they could prevent any fire damage in the future.
“If this is your kid, it's okay, kids make mistakes, but like let's own it and work together to fix all of it,” she said. “We're not gonna go press charges on your child, we just want accountability at this point, or whoever did it, just to hold them accountable and help us fix this.”
The league set up a $3,000 GoFundMe to help pay for the vandalism. As of Tuesday, July 7, 2026, they’ve received 18 donations worth $1,750
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