El Centro Little League Baseball takes a hit after $10k worth of equipment was stolen

News 11's Vanessa Gongora spoke to the Little League President about the property theft.

EL CENTRO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - El Centro Little League Baseball has to push back its opening ceremonies after $10,000 worth of equipment was stolen from its shed.

The Little League President, Ivan Murillo, noticed Thursday when there were two broken chalk bags sitting outside the shed that shouldn't have been there.

As he got closer to the shed, Murillo realized the locks were broken and the shed was nearly empty but did have homeless people's belongings inside.

15 bags were stolen that contained two bats, catcher's gear and a set of baseballs, as well as extra gear and almost all of the field equipment.

Murillo says the equipment was brought to the shed two weeks prior to the break-in and this had to be done over that timeframe because the number of items couldn't be taken overnight.

This affects 200 kids that were looking forward to starting their season this weekend.

Murillo has a son in the league and says his son was devastated when he found what happened.

"He was heartbroken because he wasn't sure if we were going to have a season," Murillo said.

Murillo can't believe someone could steal from children.

"I get emotional because my family is my family, but this is my family too. I see all these players as my children and I want to see them succeed in life because here in the Valley, the success ratio is really low," Murillo said.

Chris Jansen, coach of the Minor B Giants, wanted to let the community know about the unfortunate event and set up a GoFundMe page.

"Immediately, it was an impact. Everybody was sharing it via social media and it really blew up and helped us out a lot," Jansen said.

Jansen said they've raised about $3,000 in less than a week but it's not all about the money. The baseball league says if you can donate gear, that would be more helpful because there is a shortage of equipment in stores.

The Little League Baseball is appreciative of all the support from Imperial Valley.

"Thank again to the community and everything you've done to help us, it's been great," Jansen said.

Murillo hopes to push back opening ceremonies only one week starting March 12th. 

If you're interested in helping out the El Centro Little League, you can donate here.