Submitted Photo On Wednesday night, a section of the dugout wall was pushed in an act of vandalism to the softball field behind the Christian Worship Center Church on Eagle Street in Fredonia.

Efforts to improve the softball field behind the Christian Worship Center Church on Eagle Street in Fredonia have been delayed due to recent vandalism to the dugout.

The newly formed Chautauqua Hurricanes Softball program has been working on bringing the field back to life throughout the summer and hopes to utilize it regularly when they start playing next spring. According to Jim Zadzilka, program director, the field hasn’t been used in 20 years; he called last week’s vandalism of the field a setback for the program.

According to Sixto Rosario, owner of the Chautauqua Hurricanes, “We already cleaned up the field and the outfield. We were going to start painting the dugout with the new logo, and then this happened.”

The dugout, which was already covered in spray-painted graffiti, was damaged some time Wednesday night. Zadzilka explained, “We took the roof off the first base side dugout about a month ago. Unfortunately, someone decided to push in the walls. We’ve spent a lot of time on that field.” Zadzilka encourages anyone with information about the incident to contact the Fredonia Police Department.

Rosario and Zadzilka invite community members to join clean-up efforts at the field and support the newly formed program, which grew out of the Chautauqua Hurricanes minor league basketball team. Anyone who would like to help refurbish the field or donate to the cause are welcome and can contact Zadzilka at 401-1332.

Jimmy McCarthy contributed to this report.