Schools

Net Benefits

The school board Monday authorized the design of a new net along C Street to contain foul balls.

So you’re driving down C Street next to the high school. It’s a nice spring day, and you’re enjoying the sounds of Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer” blasting out of your radio. Life is good.

Out of nowhere, there is a sonic crash on the side of your door.

Your summer serenity has just been shattered by a foul ball.

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That’s the scenario school district officials hope to rectify with the installation this spring of a new net that will run along Alhambra Avenue and C Street. The present C Street net is in two parts – a lower portion and an upper portion.

According to district official Danny Hillman, a right-handed ball player will hit a foul ball so that it veers off toward C Street. More often than anyone would like, the ball finds its way between the upper and lower net, and onto the street.

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And since the street is where cars are either driving or parked, all too often the foul ball finds its way to a vehicle, and the laws of physics kicks in. That’s never good.

Another statistical argument in favor of the new net – Hillman said that 80 percent of all high school batters bat right handed.

The new net system will include three new poles and a 60-foot high net to contain those right-handed foul missles.

The school board voted Monday night 5-0 in favor of authorizing the design for the new netting for $12,000. The total cost of the project, once it's approved by the state, will be around $40,000, Hillman said.


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