Softball at Woodlea

The recent Town Hall Forum at Woodlea Manor turned into a game of softball. Some members of the Leesburg Town Council are making the rounds of HOAs expressing their frustration over the lost opportunity to provide water and sewer to Crosstrail and to receive the enormous tax revenue that this proposed development will produce not for Leesburg but for Loudoun County. Seeming to forget that Woodlea is in Loudoun County and that we all benefit from a more fiscally sound County, the Town vs. Peterson game began on a recent Thursday night.

Susan Horne, managing Team Leesburg and actually pitching some very nice compliments about the Peterson Companies by noting the wonderful mixed use developments they are known for, sent Susan Swift to the plate. Town planner Swift took a swing at transportation, airport, and utility issues. Despite pitchers planted by Team Leesburg in the audience who delivered several underhanded softballs, Swift whiffed each toss. The umpire called three strikes.

Hoping to get a hit for the Town, Kelly Burke assumed the pitcher’s mound and sent a curve ball to Swift on roads, which Swift fouled to left field.

Sandy Kane was then sent in as a relief pitcher and asked Swift with a slow slider about residential traffic. Swift bunted a foul.

Sensing a need for yet a better pitcher, manager Horne called on Bill Whyte from the airport commission. After warming up with an explanation of the effects of Gelignite, he stated the first Leesburg Airport had closed because of noise. This was ruled a foul ball which actually traveled backwards over the catcher’s head. The ump explained that Arthur Godfrey, who owned the original grass strip runway, wanted a longer paved runway for his soon-to-be-acquired DC-3, which accounted for the new airport location.

This sent retired pitcher Burke into contortions of body and face that worried some in the audience that a medical emergency was about to occur.

The inning ended. Team Peterson was up to bat. Leading off was Jeff Saxe with Mike Banzhaf on deck. Saxe lit up the big screen with an impressive PowerPoint presentation of all the features of Crosstrail - restaurants like Coastal Flats, a 12 to 14 screen movie theater, well known stores and shops all closely connected to high-end class A office space, a residential community, a school site, and parkland. Three bases, Live, Work, and Play were all tagged. A homerun for Saxe.

Banzhaf looked ready for a fight as he strode to the plate, and hit three long balls on annexation, water, and roads. As he swung at water, Burke again came unglued and questioned his source of information from the Town staff. Some poor staffer may be cut.

All this was too much for manager Horne who tried to call the game on account of too much raining good news from Peterson. The umpire ruled that that Peterson had the right to finish the inning.

Despite heavy promotion, so few fans turned out at Woodlea, future minor league games like this may be in doubt.