Marathon Oil Donates a New Scoreboard to VFW Ball Fields

MAY 8, 2025 |

Photo – Example of an electronic scoreboard – Bigfoot99 file photo

In Rawlins, the governing council voted this week to accept a donation to the city from Marathon Oil to purchase a new Little League scoreboard.

During the May 6^th Rawlins City Council meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Steve Sanger introduced a measure to approve an $8,500 donation from Marathon Oil Corporation. The money would be used to buy a new electronic scoreboard for the city’s VFW baseball fields.

The Rawlins City Council voted to temporarily appoint Sanger as Mayor Pro Tem because Mayor Jacquelin Wells and Vice Mayor Darril Garner were both absent from Tuesday’s meeting.

Since 2021, the Rawlins Parks and Recreation Department has been working to undo decades of deferred maintenance that left the four city-owned VFW Little League baseball fields, located north of the Carbon County Fairgrounds, in a mostly unplayable condition. The fields were unsafe, with uneven ground and littered with gopher and badger holes.

Since that time, the city has allocated more than $200,000 to make the VFW baseball fields playable once again, with the goal of hosting a regional Little League tournament in the near future.

The VFW complex consists of four baseball fields arranged in a circular pattern. According to the city of Rawlins, the southeast field is the most frequently used, as it is the only one equipped with lights for night games. The northwest field is the second most used, primarily by minor-aged players. The southwest field is designated for T-ball, while the northeast field hosts Coach Pitch. Since neither the southwest nor northeast fields have electricity, they cannot support an electronic scoreboard.

Speaking to the City Council on March 18^th, Parks and Rec Director Nikki Howell said installing new electrical systems in the northeast and southwest baseball fields will cost the city $15,600.

The city already has a new scoreboard, purchased several years ago with a Wyoming Community Gas grant. However, the scoreboard has yet to be installed and is currently sitting in storage.

At Tuesday’s Rawlins City Council meeting, Councilman Derek Elliott, who is serving his first term on the council, asked if the $8,500 Marathon Oil donation would be used to buy another scoreboard for the same Little League field.

Mayor Pro Tem Sanger reminded Councilman Elliott that in 2022, the City Council voted to use the annual Wyoming Community Gas grant to buy a scoreboard for the southern field. The display donated by Marathon Oil will be installed on the opposite field.

Councilman Terry Patterson asked whether the $8,500 donation would fully cover the expense of installing and wiring the new scoreboard. City Manager Tom Sarvey said the display is expected to cost less than $6,000. The remaining funds will be used to power the scoreboard.

Following the discussion, the Rawlins City Council unanimously approved the $8,500 donation from Marathon Oil Corporation for a new Little League baseball field scoreboard.