Lack of fences , dugouts hamper state softball programs

Griswold softball coach Rick Arremony recalled traveling to Granby last year for a Class M state quarterfinal game, and watching helplessly as a line drive to center field just kept rolling with no fence to stop its momentum.

It didnt cost the Wolverines the game Granby won, 5-1 but, it was frustrating, he said.

Waterford coach Liz Sutman recalls standing inside her dugout at a state semifinal game at West Haven High School. Not being happy with the play on the field, she let her players know about it. Afterward, she realized CPTV, which was broadcasting the game, was attached to her dugout and may have heard every word that was said.

On most high school baseball fields in the state, an outfield fence and two dugouts are common. On most softball fields, the opposite is true.

Its kind of nerve-wracking, Griswold centerfielder Emily Slonski said. If its windy, the ball can just keep going and theres nothing to stop it. If the field is really bouncy, it can also send it shooting past you and it just keeps rolling.

Fences arent cheap, and softball fields generally are not reserved for high school teams.

Arremony, however, has a solution. In many Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference sponsored-sports, there are minimum standards. If a field doesnt meet those standards, a state tournament game cant be played.

Arremony wants to mandate temporary fences for those fields. If the fences arent in place, the home team loses a home game and, sooner or later, the message will be delivered.

Does the Waterford baseball team have that concern? Arremony said. Schools should accommodate the sport and take care of it, if theyre going to have it. They owe that to the sport. Who deserves it more than Liz, with what she has done with that program?

Veterans Field, where Waterford plays, has a fence but is well beyond the recommended National Federation of High Schools distance of 185 to 235 feet. Sutman has looked into a temporary fence, but the field is town-owned, not Board of Education controlled. That means after every game, any banner the Lancers put up must be taken down. The same would be true with a temporary fence, and there is no place to store such an item.

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Lack of fences , dugouts hamper state softball programs