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03/30/2022 08:30 AMIt’s hard to find a more poetic symbol of American life than opening day of the baseball season, whether it be for the Yankees or just the local Little League team. Next month, Westbrook Little Leaguers—and finally softball players—will get to break in a renovated Ted Lane Field thanks in part to efforts from Clinton Bonner, the Westbrook Little League (WLL) president.
While coaching baseball during the summer of 2021, Clinton began to notice something bothersome: The infield at Ted Lane Field wasn’t in great shape. Balls were catching the lip of the grass and taking dangerous hops that put players at risk. Additionally, Clinton felt that the girls in Westbrook who play softball were put at a disadvantage as they were unable to use the field at Ted Lane, which Clinton says is widely regarded as the best field in town.
Luckily, Clinton had a solution. To ensure that both boys and girls can enjoy the superior field, Clinton asked the Board of Selectmen last fall for approval to turn the grass infield to clay baseball field and to flatten the pitcher’s mound and replace it with a removable rubber mound that will be brought in as needed for baseball games and removed for softball games. The move, which comes at no cost to the town, was approved by the selectmen in early March.
Once permission was granted, Clinton says the feedback has been overwhelming appreciative.
“It’s been positive. There’s been a lot of thank you’s and high fives,” says Clinton.
“We just got done scheduling games and on a given Saturday in May, we’ll have four games at Ted Lane and that’s just something we didn’t used to have. This way the entire town, or at least all the families in Little League and softball, can be around the best field we have to offer,” he adds.
Clinton says that the renovations at the field are “moving along as projected” for opening day, which is scheduled for Saturday, April 30. What will make opening day even more special is that to the wider community is that opening day will be accompanied by a larger ceremony.
“Before [former first selectman] Noel Bishop’s time ended, he called in to the office to meet Sarah Lane,” Clinton says.
Lane is a member of the Ted Lane family for whom the field is named after.
“Sarah was doing some research and found some things out about Ted Lane and the Lane family and said, ‘It’s a shame people don’t know who they are.’ She asked the town to rededicate the field this year and we were brought in,” Clinton states.
Clinton says the exact time and more details about the rededication ceremony will be announced as the date gets closer.
Clinton has been involved in WLL for about six years now.
“Once my son was league eligible, I went to watch winter workouts since I knew the coach running it. He asked me to pitch in and help out and that’s how it started,” says Clinton.
For the past two years, Clinton has been president of the league. Clinton says that as president there are three main aspects of the league with which he is concerned.
“The major thing is having the right board. You need help running it. It’s a lot of kids, fields, sponsors, and a lot of moving parts,” says Clinton. “None of this happens without [the board members]. They are so key to our success.”
“The second thing is its always a focus to make sure the league is at a healthy level. Having the right number of kids helps. We don’t need to be and won’t ever be – we’re a small town – the biggest little league program, but we want a good amount of interest and kids every year,” says Clinton.
As part of being a healthy league, Clinton says that for this year the softball league will expand from 9 teams to 11 teams and also include players from Old Saybrook. Also, the league is trying to involve the high school kids with helping out with the little leaguers as mentors and to build interest in the program.
“Instead of looking up to a 40-year-old it’s a 17-year-old helping them out who I bet they have more in common with,” says Clinton.
“The last major thing I’m concerned with as president is fundraising. Without good people—kids, parents, and volunteers—we don’t have a league. We have a lot of support, which we appreciate,” says Clinton.
Clinton grew up on Long Island before he went to college at UConn.
“I didn’t want to go far but I wanted off of Long Island for sure,” Clinton recalls.
While at UConn, Clinton met his future wife and after college the couple lived in various locations along the Connecticut shoreline before eventually settling in Westbrook.
“We’ve lived in Westbrook for about 15 years now,” says Clinton.
Besides his work with WLL, Clinton might be most recognizable around town for his work as DJ Gravyboate.
“I’m kind of the town DJ,” Clinton jokes. “Basically, I volunteer at the Daisy Dash and other events at Daisy. I make a playlist on my phone of songs kids and people like, and I jump around and act goofy. It’s nothing too serious and a lot of fun.”
In his spare time, Clinton can be found running a podcast dedicated to the Seattle Seahawks, of which he is a big fan, as well as watching sports.
Asked his favorite part of living in Westbrook, Clinton replies, “There’s a great community in Westbrook. It’s close-knit and it’s meaningful. It’s a small town full of a ton of really excellent people.”