Central baseball program scores $15000 riding mower from Ariens after old one is stolen – Omaha World-Herald

A program that helps baseball players scored a $15,000 riding mower Wednesday about a month after thieves stole the one stored at the ballfields.

A new Gravely Pro-Turn 400 was delivered to the Central Omaha Legion Baseball Association complex at Boyd Park, 4201 N. 16th St. It was donated by the Ariens Company manufacturing plant in Auburn, Nebraska.

“We saw in The World-Herald what happened, and we immediately wanted to donate a new mower,” said Cliff Barley, director of operations for Ariens in Auburn. “I called Dan Ariens in Wisconsin and it took about five seconds for him to tell us to go ahead.”

Jerry Kreber, Central High School’s varsity baseball coach, said everyone connected with the Junior Eagles was amazed at the gesture. The baseball association’s complex includes two ballfields for seven teams, four made up of high school players and three for kids fifth through eighth grades.

“This is a wonderful donation,” Kreber said. “It’s an absolute gift and we’re so appreciative of it. This goes to show that companies absolutely do care about the kids.”

Central senior Sam Messbarger and five of his teammates showed up to thank Barley and Jared Gerdes, who also is with Ariens. Messbarger got a big smile on his face as he tested out the mower’s “air-ride seat.”

“This is really, really nice,” Messbarger said. “It’s kind of crazy to think people would come to a baseball field to steal a mower when we’ve been working so hard to build this program up.”

Last month, someone stole a Gravely Pro-Turn 400 from a garage at Boyd Park. The mower had been donated by the Omaha Schools Foundation two years ago. Also stolen were a pressure washer valued at $100 and an air compressor valued at $50.

The City of Omaha has been cutting the grass fields once a week since the theft, Kreber said. It’s a chore he and the other coaches look forward to resuming.

“This is a terrific donation and a very generous one,” said Andy Wilson, the association’s president. “We can’t thank Ariens enough.”

The association recently installed a new video surveillance system for the baseball complex. Locks have been strengthened and other security measures have been added.

Security is constant worry. Kreber delivered a video to police on Wednesday showing a man at the complex stealing a $1,500 batting-cage net last week.

The thief “climbed up there and unhooked it like he was on a trapeze,” Kreber said.

The loss of the netting will bring an early end to the program’s fall practices, Kreber said. Equipment will be stored until the spring season, he said.

“Keep up the good work and don’t let (thieves) knock you back,” Barley told the coach. “What you are doing for these kids is the real story. Being able to give something like this is important to our workforce and helps them connect to the community.”

Anyone with any information about any of the thefts at the baseball complex is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 402-444-STOP (7867) or go to omahacrimestoppers.org. Tipsters remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.

kevin.cole@owh.com, 402-444-1272