Written by: Ruarri Serpa

Oceanside CA- Little League will get a little more help from the City this season, with a 25 percent cut to their electric bill for lighting the fields. The new rate that Oceanside charges the league will be more in line with other north county cities.
The current rate is $26 per hour, which only covers the cost of electricity, said Margery Pierce, Neighborhood Services Director. The rate will be reduced to $20 per hour, which puts it between San Marcos ($21), and Vista ($17). Carlsbad charges a nominal fee of $10 per hour.
City manager Steve Jepsen suggested making the rate reduction retroactive, to cover the entire baseball season.
Mike McNeill, President of Oceanside National Little League, said that his league’s last quarterly bill was $11, 200.
The city pays for the high pressure sodium lights, bulb replacement, and for a contract with Musco Sports Lighting, which remotely controls the lighting.
The rate reduction will also be accompanied by conservation measures like using fewer fields, consolidating practices, and having the league work directly with Musco to get better control over the programmed timings.
League presidents said that games and practices couldn’t be held earlier in the evening, because the time would interfere with parents’ work schedules, and other family obligations. When resident Larry Barry asked about holding games on Sundays, Councilman Kern said that the Little League charter prevents Sunday games.
However, Little League has scheduled past World Series games on Sundays, and no rules were found in the national level that prevented Sunday games. Local leagues are then left to decide when to hold games.
But the idea of Sunday games wasn’t a home run with everyone. “Some people just might consider it sacrilege,” Barry acknowledged.

Ruarri Serpa is a freelance reporter from Oceanside, CA. You can contact him directly at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter: @Ruarris