Hunting Field to be renamed after softball Commissioner Stephen Butland

  The Malden PCAA Modified Softball League has donated $320 to Bread of Life, which helps provide food for the needy, and plans to rename their diamond after late softball Commissioner Stephen Butland.

  “The league has never given money in the past to any charities,” softball commissioner Geoff Harris said. “This year, however, as a league we felt it was necessary to help out the community given how the prices of everything has gone up.”

  The softball field will be named after Stephen Butland, who dedicated more than six decades to softball. The Malden Protestant Church Athletic Association (PCAA) Modified Softball League is one of the oldest softball teams in the country, dating back to the 1940s. The team raised money during their all-star game this past season, and they plan to raise additional money on Opening Day. Recreation Director Joseph Levine played on the league and said that Butland was a good man, a Malden guy and always cooperative with obtaining field permits. The Hunting Field/Linden Park Diamond A will likely be named after Butland in the spring.

  Butland was born in 1952 and grew up in Malden, graduating from Malden High School, and in 1980 proposed to his beloved wife, Karen. They had four children: Tricia, Brian, Bethany and Kevin. Butland loved sharing his love of softball with his children, with Tricia, Brian and Kevin all playing for his teams. He had retired as First Baptist manager a little over a decade ago, but he stayed committed to the league by staying on as commissioner right up until his passing last year.