After months of talks, a stalemate that threatened the youth baseball program in Gorham has been resolved just days before kids are to take the field.

Splitting from the town’s Recreation Department after 20 years, a parents’ volunteer group, Gorham Youth Baseball Softball Association, will organize and run the Cal Ripken baseball program in town this year for players ages 9 through 12. The group will also handle Babe Ruth Softball for girls ages 9-12.

At issue was which Gorham entity – the Gorham Youth Baseball Softball Association or the town’s Recreation Department – would hold the local Cal Ripken charter issued by the league, headquartered in New Jersey, and which entity would collect and control the players’ registration fees.

Under the just-approved contract with the town, the association has paid $2,000 to play on town-owned diamonds. The arrangement is similar to those with soccer and lacrosse teams, and the Recreation Department schedules uses of town-owned fields.

Cressey Mollison, president of the Gorham Youth Baseball Softball Association board of directors, said Tuesday the agreement with the town covers one season.

“We’re happy with the deal,” Mollison said.

The town will continue sponsoring baseball teams in a recreation league for players ages 9-11. Cindy Hazelton, director of Gorham Recreation Department, said the agreement she and Town Manager David Cole signed with the Gorham Youth Baseball Softball Association began April 18 and continues through June 20.

Negotiations began in January and the contract was finalized on April 15, with the first Cal Ripken ballgame set for April 28.

“The dust is going to settle and the kids are going to play,” Hazelton said.

The agreed-upon contract with the town limits the number of the association’s Cal Ripken players to 132. Hazelton said in the past, Cal Ripken had 10 teams with 120 kids. Mollison said the town wanted the number of Cal Ripken players limited in the contract to 120, while the association sought 144. The compromise for 132 players appears to ensure that players would be available for recreation teams.

A Gorham parent of two boys, Amber Landre, said in a letter to the American Journal on Wednesday that last year 190 boys ages 8 through 12 played Cal Ripken baseball on 16 teams.

Landre said in her letter, “Two weeks before tryouts the town of Gorham has restricted this number to 132 players or Gorham Youth Baseball Softball Association will not be able to use the local baseball fields.”

“The point is all the boys planning, preparing and wanting to play Cal Ripken will not be able to,” Landre wrote. “I find this to be a complete disservice to our young athletes. I am angered that these boys will not be allowed to return to their teams and teammates.”

The Gorham Recreation Department and the association had worked in tandem since 1995 to organize youth baseball and softball. Gorham Youth Baseball Softball Association incorporated in 2002, but had been active before that.

A carefully worded statement Hazelton provided for the American Journal about the history of the relationship says, “GYBSA wanted full control of their registration fees collected, uniform fees, sponsorships and solicitation of donations, and the ability to expand to include any and all sources of funding for their program.”

In the past, the Gorham Recreation Department had collected registration fees for players.

The town of Gorham and Gorham Recreation are audited annually, Hazelton said. Gorham Recreation and the town conducted a fiscal analysis over four years “to address the question about the costs and administration of funds collected from baseball/softball,” Hazelton’s handout reads. “When the information was presented to Gorham Youth Baseball Softball Association, their concern that Gorham Recreation was not putting all of the registration fees collected directly back into the program they were collected for was immediately dismissed.”

The handout said that the town had subsidized the Cal Ripken program “quite heavily” over the years.

Under separation from the town, the association will continue to hold its Cal Ripken charter. Mollison said it has organized six U-12 teams for ages 11 and 12, and six U-10 teams for 9- and 10-year-olds.

Mollison said the association’s registration fee for Cal Ripken players is $80 each.

The roster for each of the Cal Ripken teams will have 11 players, equaling 132 kids overall playing Cal Ripken ball, and have opportunity for postseason tournament play.

According to its figures, Cal Ripken registration fees add up to $10,560.

“We collect the funds,” Mollison said.

The contract with the town stipulated that the Cal Ripken League accept all 12-year-olds who registered. Mollison said 141 players in the two age brackets tried out for Cal Ripken and nine kids didn’t make it but their registration fees were returned.

The Gorham Recreation Department will provide a minor league, Recreation Baseball, so all kids have an opportunity to play ball. For the 9-11 age bracket, Hazelton said, “We have four teams” with 10 players on a team.

The registration fee the town collects for Recreation Baseball is $48 per player.

The association’s Cal Ripkin teams, according to the contract, will play on five fields, including ones at Village School, Little Falls Recreation Area, Narragansett School and Gorham Middle School.

Hazelton said the town would mow grass on the five fields and ensure that fences are safe. The town will provide bases.

The association is responsible for field maintenance like raking, liming, fertilizing and controlling grubs and weeds. The town is also charging the parents’ group a $320 fee to cover electricity costs at the snack shack at the Village field. The other four fields it will use do not have shacks.

The town required the association to provide no less than $1 million in liability insurance and must cover food poisoning. Among contract requirements, the parents’ group also will provide its own baseball equipment, coaches and background checks, umpires and uniforms.

“They’re a free-standing organization,” Hazelton said.

For the Recreation Baseball, the Gorham Recreation Department will be responsible for its coaches and associated background checks. Hazelton said the town’s baseball equipment has been returned.

Mollison said the first game this spring is slated for April 28 and an official opening ceremony is on Saturday, May 2. But as of Tuesday, the town fields remained closed due to wet conditions.

Hazelton said she’s seen a lot of baseballs being thrown around parking lots.

“There is baseball in Mudville,” Hazelton said, citing the poem “Casey at the Bat.”

The contract between the association and the town will be reviewed in September.

“We have to trust each one is doing what’s best for kids,” Hazelton said.

Meanwhile, Gorham Recreation Department provides a baseball program for any child from pre-kindergarten up to age 11.

“Gorham Recreation is about more kids playing, not the same kids playing more,” Hazelton said.