Safety an issue between baseball and softball fields

There are many dangers in the stands at baseball and softball games.

A batter takes a vicious cut at the pitch, fouls it off, and a fan is nailed by the ball.

But most publicized instances are at Major League Baseball games, where 90-plus miles an hour pitches rocket off a slugger’s bat.

But at Georgia College, no such occurrences have happened, and the Department of Athletics plans to keep it that way.

“We recently had a foul ball almost hit a player’s mother from an opposing team,” Sports Information Director Al Weston said. “Fortunately it didn’t, but the fact the possibility existed makes upgrading the safety of our fans a priority.”

The likelihood of someone getting hit by a foul ball is slim, due to extended backstops that cause most foul balls to careen harmlessly back onto the field of play.

But occasionally, the foul ball out of play can create a moment of tension for the fans.

“In 30 years, we’ve never had an injury from a foul ball,” Athletic Director Wendall Staton said. “But the fact we could is enough for us to move ahead with plans to increase everyone’s safety.”

Staton said he needs to talk to Tom Carty and Jamie Madewell-Grodecki, head coaches of the baseball and softball teams, along with Physical Plant personnel, to determine the best design for new safety netting.

One possible design would hang a net from the top of the backstop and run it to the ground, creating an angle that would bounce balls away from fans to a safe area.

Staton said they will not look at having nets along the fences on either side of the pedestrian walkway leading into the fields at this time.

Renovations to multiple fields have left the department’s budget thin for futher upgrades, but Weston said there may be state or federal funding available because this is a safety issue.

The time frame to finish the project is as soon as possible, according to Staton, but students may not see the upgrades by the end of the school year due to the complexity of logistics involved.

Posted by Caleb Rule on Mar 10 2011. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.