Little League almost struck out with new fence

MECHANICVILLE, N.Y. ( NEWS10 ) — A local little league was almost scammed out of nearly $6,000 after a contractor took money and never built a promised fence . NEWS10 has the comeback story for the league after the contractor finally made good.

They say that if you build it, they will come.  The Mechanicville Stillwater little league field almost did not get their fence built and was almost out of $5700 .

“Is it a nice fence?” asked NEWS10 reporter James De La Fuente.

“Yeah!” said a few excited children.

We first met the Mechanicville-Stillwater Little League President Scott Mullin when he called us up and asked for help. The league was served with a bankruptcy notice by the contractor’s lawyer.  They would be out of money and without a fence.

“It was a blow to our league. We weren’t quite sure how to handle it and where to go from there,” said Mullin.

The little league was caught in a pickle. “As a small-town community, we have limited funds here so taking that hit was pretty big,” said Mullin.

It was a job that was bid on in October of last year. “It was supposed to start in November then pushed off to December and pushed off again. Finally, we got a bankruptcy notice in the mail January 15,” said Mullin.

NEWS10 reached out to Schillinger & Associates for what the league could do next.  “It’s not unusual in larcenies and theft crimes that if the money can be returned quickly to the people who have lost it, then a resolution can be made. Usually modest in compared to what the more serious penalties could be,” said attorney Eric Schillinger.

But Mullin feels there was another reason this wrong was righted. “He got his name on the news, and he ended up coming forward and coming through on this deal with us,” said Mullin.

NEWS10 has reached out to contractor James Butler and his attorney, but neither returned our calls. Butler was charged in February with two counts of grand larceny. Residents of Saratoga and Warren Counties also say he took money for fences he never installed.

Mullin says there are no hard feelings. “I think he just got in a little over his head with his business. I think when it rained it poured on him and we feel bad for him. So, once again, glad he came through with our fence,” finished Mullin.

And when asked if they will hire Trust a Fence again, “Hence his name we probably will not go back with his Trust a Fence company,” stated Mullin.

All in all, the field is all fenced in.  “We got this done in the nick of time,” said Mullin. The first game of the season will be played on the new field with the new fence April 27.

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