Community leaders have estimated Wednesday morning’s EF-2 tornado caused a minimum of $200,000 damage to Mt. Juliet’s seemingly jinxed baseball / softball complex on Lebanon Road. The 13-field complex, called home by well over 100 youth teams, was all but destroyed by flood waters in May of 2010, only to bounce back bigger and stronger after a groundswell of community support.

That kind of volunteer effort will be needed once again.

Chad Dowling, President of Mt. Juliet League, Inc., issued the following statement.

“The damage is serious, but it can be fixed. We do have some structural damage. Additionally, we have damage to fences, light poles, bleachers and scoreboards.

“I spent the morning assessing the damage, and I am telling you: we will rebuild and recover. We are a resilient community. We have been hit by devastating floods, but yet we came back. This will be no different,” Dowling said.

He indicated organized cleanup efforts started Thursday morning. Crews from Mt. Juliet Public Works and the Wilson County Sheriff’s Department were on hand to begin the debris cleanup.

“We will need assistance from everything from scrap removal, fence repair, dugout roof repair, concrete block work and netting repair,” Dowling said. “Weather permitting, we are targeting this weekend February 2 and 3 for park cleanup days. Likely on Saturday and Sunday between the hours of 1-5 p.m.

Spring season -- Tryouts will be postponed until Saturday Feb. 9 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.. Check www.mjleague.org for updates.

TOMMY BRYAN / This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it