EAST BUTLER — The numbers are against them. So are the finances.

But former longtime East Butler Baseball Association president Dess Schnur and borough council president Kevin Hesidenz are trying to reorganize EBBA and keep it alive.

The association debuted in 1952 and has served more than 5,000 children through the years. The once-prosperous organization quietly faded away last year with only one team — known as Butler Youth Baseball — playing at the EBBA complex.

“My father and Bud Goldinger were co-founders of this organization,” Schnur said. “I was 9 years old and played on our first Little League team, the Indians.

“This would be the 70th anniversary of East Butler Baseball. I want it to see that birthday.”

But Schnur admitted they’re fighting the odds.

He said the EBBA used to carry over approximately $25,000 from year to year. If the organization is revived in time for this season, it will start in the hole financially.

“No one seems to know where all that money went,” Schnur said.

A meeting has been scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday at the East Butler Borough Building to begin rebuilding the EBBA. Residents of East Butler Borough, and Clearfield, Donegal, Oakland and Summit townships are invited to attend.

“We are looking for help and support to continue providing the youth (ages 4-20) of our community an opportunity to continue playing at the East Butler complex,” Hesidenz said.

Anyone with questions may contact Hesidenz at 724-822-2602 or at Kevinhesidenz@gmail.com.

“When my kids played — they’re now in their 40s — East Butler had six teams at each level, from T-ball on up,” former EBBA coach Jerry Stonebraker said. “Now they only had one team playing up there last year.

“I remember East Butler Legion, when we played Karns City at Speed-O Field, there’d be 300 people up there watching that game. Those days are gone.”

Russ Scott, former East Butler Legion baseball manager, graduated from Butler in 1987. He said there were 1,000 children in each class at the high school then.

“There’s only 450 in my daughter’s class,” Scott added. “Schools are all consolidating now. Youth numbers have been cut in half to start with, there’s travel baseball, kids picking one sport and staying with it all year ... the kids aren’t there to do it anymore.”

John Houston isn’t from East Butler, but coached with Schnur for years in youth baseball and softball.

“They ran Dess out of there in 2011,” Houston said of the EBBA. “The organization has gone downhill since. He ran a tight ship. When he left, it became a loose ship.

“Travel baseball and local community youth ball ... They have to find a way to co-exist. That’s the only chance here, really.”

East Butler Borough owns the EBBA Complex, consisting of a T-ball field, Little League fields, Speed-O Field (for high school-age baseball) and a sizable concession stand. The baseball complex has lights, as well.

Hesidenz said borough council decided to get involved when it noticed the fields were no longer being properly maintained.

“We decided to look into it because those fields had always been well-maintained by the association,” Hesidenz said. “Some games were played up there last year, but the fields weren’t in good condition. Then we discovered the East Butler Baseball Association somehow didn’t exist anymore.

“Our goal now is to reorganize, get a president and vice president in place and try to bring it back.”

Part of that process is the council’s application for a Parks and Recreation grant from the county that would help provide $15,000 to $20,000 “because that’s what it’s going to take to get that complex back in the condition it once was,” Hesidenz added.

The EBBA Complex developed and improved through the years through volunteer work, often spearheaded by Schnur.

“A lot of people spent a lot of time up there working on those fields over the years,” Stonebraker said.

Butler varsity football coach Eric Christy grew up in East Butler. He said his father coached him there and recalled what the field was like when he played T-ball.

“Our T-ball field consisted of a parking lot and a fence,” Christy said. “Everybody hit a bunch of home runs because the fence felt like it was 20 feet from the plate. All of the vast improvements there through the years have been a source of pride and hard work for the community.

“I get it. Things change. Time moves on. That will always be a great facility to me with a lot of great memories.”

Schnur said he doesn’t want to revive the EBBA and its baseball complex for himself, the council or any of the organization’s officers.

“That complex is for our kids. It belongs to the residents of this community. Nobody is bigger than that,” Schnur said.