Park and Recreation Director Jeff Stubblefield said the transition is going smoothly as the Parks Department takes over responsibility for summer baseball programs from the Marshall Baseball Commission.

Stubblefield said the commission is not "officially" dissolved.

They handed over the reins to the former Babe Ruth Baseball league right after the first of the year, according to Stubblefield.

He has been working on lining up sponsors and finding coaches and players.

"I'm pleased with the number of kids signed up and the coaches we have," he said. "I'm just happy we are able to provide kids baseball in the summer."

Stubblefield said the league would just be called the Summer Recreational Baseball league.

"There will be no affiliates," he said.

When the park took over, they decided there would be no All-Star teams or games.

"We're just playing ball and learning the game to get better," Stubblefield said.

Besides the affiliation and the dissolution of the All-Star team, the only other change is a couple of rules.

"We made two rule changes to get the kids more involved in the game," he said.

Stubblefield said that there are 94 individuals signed up overall. They will have five teams for 10- to 12-year-olds and two teams for 13- to 15-year-olds.

Stubblefield said they are 15 shorter than last year's sign-ups with the commission, but he is not worried.

The games will begin Tuesday, May 27, and play through to the third week in July.

"There have been no problems with the switch over," he assured.

Contact Rachel Harper at marshallcity@socket.net