WAYNE -- Residents recently finished restoring a town softball field behind Wayne Elementary School.

In the process, they've restored more than the field.

Interest in youth softball in Wayne "has soared" with the return of a regulation-size field to the town, said Dave Webb, who coaches a team of girls 12 and younger.

Webb's team -- a mix of elementary and middle school girls -- now has 12 members, he said. That's up from the five or six the squad has typically fielded in recent years. And a team of players 8 and younger is bursting at the seams, with 16 participants this spring.

Much of it has to do with having a suitable field in 1,200-resident Wayne, Webb said.

In 2008, the 12-and-younger team used the Readfield Elementary School softball field as its home base.

"A lot of parents aren't willing to travel," he said.

Monica Murray-Webb, who grew up in Wayne playing softball on the field behind the town's elementary school, said the town's field had lapsed into disrepair long ago.

"There were a couple of us that grew up here and now we're watching our girls play," said Murray-Webb, Webb's wife.

It was those parents who decided they wanted to watch their daughters play in town.

With their home field in Readfield, she said, "every game is an away game."

Webb, the coach, sought funds from the town last year and was granted $4,000 to spearhead the field's repair.

Parents and players pitched in, digging trenches, removing overgrown grass and trees, and adding a drainage system, Webb said. Town-appropriated money covered the purchase of bases.

"To bring everything back to life, it's been a process," Webb said. "It's been pay as you go."

"It's been quite interesting to watch all the parents come out in rain storms, digging trenches and reseeding the grass," Murray-Webb said.

Team members have held fundraisers to purchase equipment.

When the softball season ends in mid-July, dugouts will be installed with the help of a $1,000 donation from Rep. Gary Knight, R-Livermore Falls.

Meanwhile, though, the Wayne Black Bears are practicing and hosting home games against teams from Greene, Leeds and Turner at Wayne Elementary School.

The Black Bears' record at home so far is 1-1.

The field, Webb said, has become a community centerpiece.

"It's been a meeting place for a lot of parents to sit back and watch their kids play, instead of worry about cooking dinner and running off for an hour's drive," he said. "Now the girls can just walk to the field or ride their bikes."

And while the players aren't practicing or playing on it, the restored field has restored some recess fun for Wayne Elementary School students.

"All the upper-grade boys and girls that want to play together, they're all out there playing kickball," Wayne Elementary School Principal Cheryl Hasenfus said. "It's had a huge upgrade."