Penn Academy Softball league in need of help after third break in within 2 years "It's absolutely devastating"
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It's a blow for the Penn Academy Softball league in Northeast Philadelphia after they said vandals broke into the organization's shed and damaged equipment. Now, they are asking the community for help.
This is the third time in two years the program's field has been vandalized but coaches said this one hurts the most.
"We are a small organization and such a small community but we've helped thousands of girls achieve their dream of playing softball," Drew Garfield said.
A field of opportunity in Northeast Philly is what Field Director and Coach Garfield said is the heart and soul of Penn Academy Softball, where his own 10 and 16-year-old daughters play.
But Monday night, they said someone broke into their shed destroying equipment used to maintain the grounds.
"The door handle is off and the lock is off with the 4x4, got into the shed, threw things around tore some things up," Jim Dagostino said. "Smashed the Pepsi machine and then in the end, stuffed rags tank of our quad, which we use to maintain the field and lit it on fire."
Here are the charred remains of the quad and a burn circle in the field where it was set ablaze.
Dagostino is the program's director and has coached for 17 years. He said the field is like another home for volunteers and players.
"This field is where we live at for four to six months out of the year, maintaining, coaching, practicing," Dagostino said. "It's absolutely devastating."
Dagostino said the quad alone costs $1,800.
"It hurts as an organization," Garfield said. "It hurts the girls because, at the end of the day, they are the ones that suffer."
As investigators search for who is responsible, Dagostino and Garfield are asking the community for help to continue providing a safe place for kids to play the game.
