The community has been instrumental in developing the eight new ball diamonds in Carman, and according to Carman Minor Ball, the project is coming along nicely.

Fundraising for the roughly $1 million project has also reached nearly 80 percent.

President Erin Lemky, says these diamonds will mean big things for baseball and community for Carman.

"Over the last 5-7 years, we've had an increase in the number of players. In 2019, we had 23 teams playing out of Carman, ages 4-18, just under 200 registrants. Some upgrades need to be done at the current facilities we have now to make it safer for players, and we're not able to host tournaments because of diamond size and space and other requirements. With these new diamonds, we can bring more people in town to really show off our amenities and what our community has to offer."

Planning for the project started in the spring of 2018, and in April 2019, they broke ground. The fall that year was rather wet, with early snowstorms but still were able to install drain tiles, irrigation, some electrical and land levelling before the winter.

This summer, contractors have finished up several other parts and prepared the infield with red clay from local farmers.

Preparations for planting grass is underway, and the plan is to have players on the ball diamonds in the spring of 2021.

Lemky adds due to the COVID-19 pandemic, their usual events have been cancelled putting a hamper of fundraising efforts. But she says people can still help make this project a reality through donations or helping hands-on.