VISTA —— Recently, any combination of the words "Vista" and "Little League" has conjured images of celebration.

But while one Vista-area Little League basked in the success of a championship season, another has struggled to find a place to play.

The Rancho Buena Vista Majors All-Stars have been the toast of Vista for the past month, after returning from a trip to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., as the third-ranked team in the world.

Meanwhile, players in the Vista American Little League have endured what amounts to a seasonlong road trip, without the glory of a championship run to show for it.

The league's home field, French Field, has been closed since January, due to state-ordered soil and water testing on the grounds. The land —— on Lee Drive, just inside the Oceanside city limits —— was once a county operated landfill with waste-burning facilities.

The field now sits fenced and vacant, with weeds and overgrowth obscuring what was once a baseball diamond, while Vista American's 25 teams have been left without a home.

League president Paul Roth said Vista American managed a last-minute relocation to Vista's Breeze Hill Park for the baseball season that ended in June, but is still looking for a home for next season, which starts in February.

Cities asked to help

The city of Vista has paid about $10,000 help the league temporarily move to Breeze Hill, upgrading two fields at that park, as well as renting fences for the outfield areas, modifying electricity and water hookups and moving a concession stand, officials said.

But other sports teams also need to use Breeze Hill, and city officials have said increasing demands for field space make working the league into the rotation a little harder than last year.

Now Roth and others are lobbying for help from the city of Oceanside, since nearly 40 percent of the league's players are from that city.

Roth said he wants Oceanside to step up to the plate and either provide some playing fields for the league, or pitch in and help them find places to play.

"Breeze Hill was a great temporary location for us, and the city of Vista has been a great friend to our league from day one," he said. "They opened up their pockets, financial and physical resources and city staff time. Up until now, we hadn't really seen anything from Oceanside."

Last Wednesday, Roth met this month with Oceanside Council members Shari Mackin and Jack Feller and City Manager Steve Jepsen to discuss the league's needs.

Oceanside city officials said they had been in contact with the league since early spring and were happy to meet with league representatives, but simply could not meet all of the league's requests.

"Our city manager has made it known we want to accommodate them," said Oceanside City Councilman Jack Feller. "The opportunity is there for them to at least have practice fields, but we have to sit down and everybody has to give. We're not going to be able to give them a field of dreams like Optimist field in Shadowridge like Rancho Buena Vista has. Public parks can't compete with that."

Roth said the city of Oceanside offered the league the use of a practice field at John Landis Park, but that the players were unable to use it because there is no lighting at the park.

"The kids are in school during the daylight hours, so we need it at night, and we need lights to be able to play at all," he said.

Site in limbo

The county dump closed in 1967. For years, the city of Vista has been leasing the 10-acre site from Oceanside for use as baseball and softball fields.

Testing on the French Field site was ordered in 2002 by the state water quality board to determine whether any waste burned at the landfill had seeped into groundwater in areas around the dump and nearby creek.

The testing was required for a long list of inactive landfills throughout the state. The city of Oceanside paid to have French Field fenced off during the testing.

A dispute began last year when the county, which ran the dump from 1944 until its closure in 1967, filed a lawsuit seeking contributions from Vista and Oceanside to pay for the testing and any potential cleanup. Both cities then filed cross-complaints.

The lawsuits are still pending, but the cities and county agreed earlier this year to share in the cost of the testing, which totals more than $300,000. Any cleanup deemed necessary will carry an additional price tag, but will be covered by the municipalities' insurance carriers, officials said.

Preliminary tests completed this spring showed well-above-average lead levels in the banks of a creek that runs near the field, at 250 parts per million in one area, and 500 parts per million in another, nearly double the limit allowed by government regulations.

But areas tested on the field itself tested within a normal range.

Roth said the field is still usable, as long as the creek area is kept off limits.

"Let's fence the (affected) area and keep the public out of there," Roth said. "It's so simple. It's all about liability right now, and the cities are so scared. Let's just fix it."

Feller said the cities and county expected to hear back from the state water quality control board in the next six months, but did not know how long any required cleanup efforts would take. He said Oceanside would help reopen the park when the area was deemed safe.

"We don't know that the field is safe, and we can't take chances," Feller said. "If Vista thinks it's safe and wants to take responsibility, then we'll give the field to them, but I don't think any city would want to expose themselves to potential problems."

The games must go on

The Vista American Little League was founded in 1957 and has about 300 players on 25 teams a season, Roth said, though officials are anticipating an increase in players next season as a result of the positive publicity surrounding the Rancho Buena Vista team's success.

Season fees, which pay for uniforms and field upkeep, average about $120 for league players, Roth said. Roth declined to give the league's annual budget.

Vista Parks and Recreation Director Cathy Brendel said that absent any other options, the city will try to work with the league so teams can once again use Breeze Hill Park if necessary, though it would require creative scheduling because local softball and soccer teams also use the fields.

"It's kind of like a puzzle, you have to move things around a lot," Brendel said of juggling all the team practice and game schedules. "We're prepared to try to accommodate the league as best we can, and we're looking for a more long-term solution."

Contact staff writer Anne Riley-Katz at 631-6622 or ariley-katz@nctimes.com