Queen of Diamonds: Passion keeps Arehart in the game

​Twenty-seven teams, more than 300 players and a couple thousand fans temporarily turned Neligh into the Peewee and Pony baseball capital of Northeast Nebraska last week.

After 38 years of hosting the Quad County Tournament, the event runs like a well-oiled pitching machine thanks to countless parents, volunteers and city workers. While no one takes individual credit for its success, one name is consistently repeated as being the glue that keeps it together — Diann Arehart.

“Diann is pretty awesome,” said Jeff Shabram, coach of the Orchard Peewee team. “She’s not the only one working hard at this tournament, but she is the glue to everything. Her dedication and communication are really the keys. She just does a great job.”

The tournament draws teams from seven counties: Antelope, Knox, Holt, Boone, Pierce, Cedar and Madison.

“This has been one of our biggest years,” Arehart said. “The amount of teams that contacted us about coming to into Quad County was great. It’s grown by leaps and bounds and can only get bigger, if we want it to. The towns that have come have told us they can’t believe the level of competition.”

And more want in. Arehart said teams from Bassett and Ainsworth weren’t voted into the league this year because of the traveling distance. She said two Norfolk teams also asked to join the league after the season started. Newer teams include Laurel, Atkinson and Hartington.

While Arehart has organized the Quad County Tournament for the past eight years, her role may not be fully known to the public. Angie Belitz, a longtime member of Neligh’s Park Board who also has all four of her children in the ball program, said she sees Arehart’s effort and is constantly impressed by her dedication and passion.

“I don’t think people realize how much Diann does behind the scenes to keep these things going, especially at the Quad County Tournament,” Belitz said. “Whether it be at the concession stand, helping score tables, getting umps lined up, emailing schedules, fielding concerns, getting the fields ready — she’s invaluable to the ball board and to this ball program.”

Arehart is the longtime treasurer of the Neligh Ball Board and also spent time on the City of Neligh’s Park Board. Like most volunteers, her time has coincided with her sons’ involvement with baseball. Married to Steve Arehart, they started volunteering when their son, Brett, now 35, was in t-ball. They stayed with the program through his Senior Legion days before taking six years off.

They returned when youngest son, Jayden, was in t-ball. Now a Senior Legion player, Jayden has one year left. While Arehart said she isn’t planning to leave the Ball Board quite yet, she does want to give up her duty of running the Quad County League after next year.

“I don’t know when being treasurer meant running Quad County for eight years,” Arehart said with a laugh. “It’s been great, but with Jayden being done after next year, I’m looking for some other parents to step and take over. I’d like them to help more next year and see how things work.”

Arehart is quick to credit all of the parents and volunteers for making the tournament run so smoothly. Still, turning over the tournament is a little scary because it’s become such a strong part of the program that she wants to see it keep getting better and better every year. Belitz said while it will be hard to replace Arehart, they all know it’ll take more than just one person to fill that role.

“She’s going to need to be replaced by four people,” Belitz said with a chuckle. “She needs to mentor four people to do what she does, and I’m not kidding. Honestly, people do not realize what she does behind the scenes.”

Belitz said Arehart’s willingness to mentor and help people learn their roles and duties is a testament to not only her character, but also to her desire to continue building the program.

“She wants to leave it in good hands and is willing to help them learn,” Belitz said. “She wants to help them take over what has been organized and established during the years she’s been here.”

As to why she has given so much time and effort to the program and tournament, Arehart offers no hesitation in her answer.

“This,” Arehart said as she sat in the Legion dugout and looked around the perfectly maintained field. “I don’t know if people realize what the ball program does. It put up the batter’s cage, the new scoreboard, the fence on the fields, the gravel. We even paid for part of the agri-lime. That’s why I keep coming back.”

Arehart said improvements have to continuously be made to not only keep the fields and equipment in great condition for the players, but reinvesting into the fields provide Neligh with to the ability to host such events as the Quad County Tournament.

Ted Hughes, chairman of the Neligh City Council, said Arehart was an advocate for purchasing agri-lime for the three ball fields, which assists with drainage and keeps the fields dry and usable after rain. Arehart went to the council and asked for their assistance with the purchase.

“She’s been very pro-active with the ball program,” Hughes said. “She’s been working with the Quad County for a long time and has done a good job with it. When Diann gets a hold of something, she’s in it all the way. It’s a big job getting it organized, and it’s a huge draw for people coming into the community and bringing in revenue.”

Through both grants and support from the City Council, the south field was completed first with the north and Legion field all finished by spring 2015.

“The reason it came about is when we hosted four or five years ago, we had a ton of rain during the tournament. Teams were getting upset about delays because, of course, everyone goes on vacation after ball season,” Arehart said. “Other towns said they had agri-lime and could host it, so the fear was that we would lose this tournament. I did not want to lose this tournament.”

After a very wet summer and rain wreaking havoc on the baseball season for most towns, Arehart said Neligh only canceled one home game all season due to the rain, which she said was due to it actively raining at that time and not the field conditions. Despite more than an inch of rain falling overnight last Wednesday, no Quad County Tournament games were delayed.

Although the agri-lime was an expense to the city, Arehart said the return of investment has been far reaching since so many people and businesses benefit from the ball program and tournament.

“I saw 15 campers over there from Quad County paying camping fees. I went into Casey’s after a night of Quad County, and they had no food. The ball players had wiped them out,” she said. “You see them stopping at Subway, Cubby’s, Imperial. We stopped at Sly’s one night, and that place was full of baseball players. They were in their uniforms with their parents. I can’t imagine how this community doesn’t benefit from this tournament.”

Hughes agreed and said the ball program has helped not only provide revenue to community, but it offers exposure to what Neligh has to offer.

“It’s a huge draw for people coming into the community,” he said. “People camp, kids use the pool. We have an exceptional park. It gives Neligh a lot of exposure, which sometimes I don’t think we take advantage of that exposure. Neligh’s a great place to live, even if you work in Norfolk.”

Arehart said the program has benefited greatly by having the support of Neligh’s City Council, who has worked well with the Park Board and Ball Board with upgrades. Even though the tournament just ended, members are already discussing ways to improve the tournament and looking at costs with the upgrades.

Shabram said having a well-run tournament leads to better attendance because people know the games will start on time. Thanks to a strong attendance, Hughes said that helps make more upgrades a possibility.

​“Diann really does a good job of running that Quad County Tournament. It’s well organized and operates on a timely schedule,” Hughes said. “The board has really done a nice job with it.”