“If you rebuild it, they will come.”

That’s not exactly the line from the Kevin Costner film Field of Dreams, but it was the call answered by Martin Marietta’s Ohio District.

Working closely with Major League Baseball’s Cincinnati Reds, Martin Marietta’s E-Town sand, gravel and topsoil operation helped provide kids in the area with better places to play the game they love.

“These kids were playing on fields that were just plain bad,” noted Bernie Jelen, Area Manager for Trucking and Topsoil. “They were so hard, it was like they were sliding in the middle of a gravel pit.”

E-Town’s shredded, fine-textured topsoil was perfect for the job, and the plant provided the material to the Reds at a discounted price. More than 4,000 tons of this specialized product were delivered to 18 fields in the Cincinnati area.

Pleased with this initial contribution, the Reds since invited Martin Marietta to help with additional fields in Dayton, Ohio, and Northern Kentucky.

Reds’ Community Fund Outreach Coordinator Matt Crawford called Martin Marietta an “invaluable partner” in the team’s field renovation efforts.

“As a result of this partnership,” he added, “we have been able to make baseball safer and more accessible to thousands of area children.”

Play ball!