Plans are moving forward to set up a new baseball league in Logan Township that will focus on creating major league players.

Mel Kepner told township supervisors last week that he is part of a group that wants to make Greenwood Park home to a four-team NorCal East League that will be an offshoot of the Altoona Curve Junior Baseball Program.

NorCal baseball, founded in 1992 in Northern California, is structured to help baseball players improve their skills. It claims to have helped place more players on USA baseball teams than any other program in the country.

A local league, Kepner told supervisors, would involve 12-to-15 year old youths interested in taking their baseball skills to the highest level.

"You want exclusive use of the field?" asked Supervisor Joe Metzgar.

Kepner said yes because league activities are scheduled at least nine or 10 months of the year.

The township created Greenwood Park and supervisors have the authority to determine how it is used. They didn't Kepner an answer Thursday night because Solicitor Larry Clapper said he wanted to do some research into what legal issues might be created by the arrangement.

Kepner said that youth interested in this level of instruction and competitive play now head out of town, to Pittsburgh and other locations. A four-team league like this in Altoona, Kepner said, would draw players from as far away as Dubois and Mount Union.

Supervisor Jerry Fulare recalled talk from years ago about putting lights at Greenwood Park.

"Eventually we are looking at lights," Kepner said.

To get started, Kepner said his organization wants to set up a portable building on the site for storage and concessions. It also wants to build a scoreboard and dugouts to shelter players from the sun.

Kepner has long been associated with Logan Township's Little League and worked on improvements at Fye Field.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 946-7456.