A local sports milestone will be celebrated by the Loma Portal Little League (LPLL) on Saturday, March 8 at 9 a.m.
The event will kick off the 50th season of LPLL and will be held at the site of the league’s original fields, located on Nimitz Boulevard between West Point Loma Boulevard and the Catalina Boulevard overpass.
The complex of youth baseball fields is now known as Peninsula Little League.
Founded in 1958 by the late A.E. “Red” Berndes, LPLL ranks as one of San Diego’s oldest and longest-running Little Leagues. Over the years, thousands of youngsters from Ocean Beach and Point Loma have gotten their start in baseball at LPLL.
Many of the young athletes have gone on to compete for Point Loma High School. A few notables have made it as far as the major league baseball.
Jon Berndes, son of Red Berndes, who served as the league’s first president, has organized the half-century reunion. An estimated 30 or so former LPLL players from that inaugural year are expected to attend.
In 1958, more than 200 youngsters ranging from 8 to 12 years of age played in the Coast League (8-9), minors (10-11) and majors (11-12).
As part of the event, one of the current LPLL fields will be named in honor of Berndes.