City College Baseball Batting Cage
Donation protected
I am Varsity Baseball Coach at Baltimore City College High School, a large urban public high school in the heart of Baltimore, MD. Over the last decade, I have seen our school's baseball program and its scholar-athletes struggle through poor field conditions and lack of resources, so we're asking for your help to raise money for a batting cage, which will help a lot of great kids develop hitting skills and confidence in their chosen sport.
Like many baseball fields in the Baltimore City Public Schools, our field is not well-maintained, but, beyond this, the field sits at the bottom of a hill which affords us very poor drainage. If it rains on a Monday, the field might not drain until Friday, giving our field the nickname "the swamp." This, of course, makes it difficult get the repetition needed to improve skills, particularly hitting skills at home plate, where a huge puddle forms and make batting practice especially difficult.
We remain competitive (our 7-2 record last year ended with 7 straight victories and a trip to the playoffs, continuing a string of many years of top-third finishes in the city and playoff runs), but, last year, the frustration became heavy. It's not a huge surprise we ended up losing our first two games last season before winning our last seven consecutive, as our badly damaged field made it nearly impossible to take batting practice before our first game. Weather and field conditions forced many practices to the weight room or canceled many games. On occasion, we would carpool to batting cages in the area, but the drive is long and the out-of-pocket cost for coach and athlete is fairly steep.
Beyond our problems with field conditions, though, these great kids deserve to have at least part of the resources that other strong baseball programs in the area have: namely, a batting cage, which rival Baltimore City teams and most Baltimore County teams have already. If we had a batting cage for practices, we would use it daily, integrating it as an integral part of our regular practices or use exclusively when the field conditions are too wet or dangerous to play on. However, in the past, costs and especially space have been prohibitive.
However, our principal, Ms. Harcum, has graciously given us permission to install a batting cage in a courtyard in the middle of the school, as long as we raise the funds necessary. This courtyard has laid empty for years, but it used to host a batting cage; we are excited for the opportunity to bring it back.
That's where you come in. To buy a quality batting cage, get it installed, and buy necessary turf, netting, balls, and other equipment, we need to raise about $4500. Please consider donating to support young men balancing their studies and athletics in a tougher environment than most. Many have dreams of playing college baseball or even beyond, but this batting cage is a necessary tool for my players to get enough reps to compete at high levels.
Trapezoid batting cage: http://www.battingcagesinc.com/batting-cages/packages/economy-batting-cage-packages.html $1245
Armadillo Baseball L-Screen http://www.battingcagesinc.com/protective-screens/the-armadillo-l-screen.html $450
L-Screen http://jugssports.com/fixed-frame/l-shaped-screen-fixed-frame/ $199
2 protective square screens http://www.battingcagesinc.com/protective-screens/protective-square-screen.html 2 @ 209 = $418
Sting-free dimpled batting practice balls http://jugssports.com/practice-balls/sting-free-dimpled-baseballs/ 5 dozen @ $44 = $220
Ground turf http://www.battingcagesinc.com/turf-mats/duraturf-batting-cage-ground-covers-mats.html $1008 ($1.20/square foot)
Batter's Mat (2) http://www.battingcagesinc.com/turf-mats/duraturf-batter-s-box-professional-mats.html 2X319 = $628
Installation: $300
Total: $4468
Like many baseball fields in the Baltimore City Public Schools, our field is not well-maintained, but, beyond this, the field sits at the bottom of a hill which affords us very poor drainage. If it rains on a Monday, the field might not drain until Friday, giving our field the nickname "the swamp." This, of course, makes it difficult get the repetition needed to improve skills, particularly hitting skills at home plate, where a huge puddle forms and make batting practice especially difficult.
We remain competitive (our 7-2 record last year ended with 7 straight victories and a trip to the playoffs, continuing a string of many years of top-third finishes in the city and playoff runs), but, last year, the frustration became heavy. It's not a huge surprise we ended up losing our first two games last season before winning our last seven consecutive, as our badly damaged field made it nearly impossible to take batting practice before our first game. Weather and field conditions forced many practices to the weight room or canceled many games. On occasion, we would carpool to batting cages in the area, but the drive is long and the out-of-pocket cost for coach and athlete is fairly steep.
Beyond our problems with field conditions, though, these great kids deserve to have at least part of the resources that other strong baseball programs in the area have: namely, a batting cage, which rival Baltimore City teams and most Baltimore County teams have already. If we had a batting cage for practices, we would use it daily, integrating it as an integral part of our regular practices or use exclusively when the field conditions are too wet or dangerous to play on. However, in the past, costs and especially space have been prohibitive.
However, our principal, Ms. Harcum, has graciously given us permission to install a batting cage in a courtyard in the middle of the school, as long as we raise the funds necessary. This courtyard has laid empty for years, but it used to host a batting cage; we are excited for the opportunity to bring it back.
That's where you come in. To buy a quality batting cage, get it installed, and buy necessary turf, netting, balls, and other equipment, we need to raise about $4500. Please consider donating to support young men balancing their studies and athletics in a tougher environment than most. Many have dreams of playing college baseball or even beyond, but this batting cage is a necessary tool for my players to get enough reps to compete at high levels.
Trapezoid batting cage: http://www.battingcagesinc.com/batting-cages/packages/economy-batting-cage-packages.html $1245
Armadillo Baseball L-Screen http://www.battingcagesinc.com/protective-screens/the-armadillo-l-screen.html $450
L-Screen http://jugssports.com/fixed-frame/l-shaped-screen-fixed-frame/ $199
2 protective square screens http://www.battingcagesinc.com/protective-screens/protective-square-screen.html 2 @ 209 = $418
Sting-free dimpled batting practice balls http://jugssports.com/practice-balls/sting-free-dimpled-baseballs/ 5 dozen @ $44 = $220
Ground turf http://www.battingcagesinc.com/turf-mats/duraturf-batting-cage-ground-covers-mats.html $1008 ($1.20/square foot)
Batter's Mat (2) http://www.battingcagesinc.com/turf-mats/duraturf-batter-s-box-professional-mats.html 2X319 = $628
Installation: $300
Total: $4468
Organizer
Mark Miazga
Organizer
Baltimore, MD
