Letter: Dugout fences unsafe

Published 12:00 pm Tuesday, April 2, 2019

To the Editor:

I was able to go see my grandson play baseball March 21-23 at the Seventh Street Complex and was surprised by something that happened during the first game. A foul ball went into the dugout where the South Umpqua players were sitting, and one of the players was hit in the face and required some stitches. It could have been much worse if he hadn’t been hit in the jaw but the throat or side of his head. I was unaware that there are no safety fences in front of the dugouts in either field, and only what looks like a hitching post in the field where the Prospectors play. That seemed even more dangerous as the boys were leaning on the top with their faces protruding toward the back of the batters, looking rather like targets. Some of the parents said there were other schools that had inadequate protective fences, but some had enclosed fronts with openings on each end. Seems a sort of simple solution to prevent a very serious injury, or maybe just continue to play Russian roulette with the kids.

Mary Brown

Prairie City