Forget about short porch for Lake Zurich girls softball field
Lake Zurich High School's girls softball team won't be playing in a bandbox after all.
As evidenced by mounds of dirt on the diamond, construction crews are working to push the outfield fence farther from home plate. The work followed concerns by Lake Zurich Unit District 95 board members in August that the new distance of 185 feet from home to left, center and right fields wound up too short after a summer construction project for the high school football stadium and sports complex.
District 95 spokeswoman Jean Malek said the project is expected to cost $168,500. Waukegan-based general contractor Boller Construction Co. Inc. started the work in mid-November.
"Completion is weather dependent, but the original completion was to be done before the end of the year," Malek said. "If the weather holds, this is still a possibility."
Roughly $2.4 million in improvements for the complex were done during the summer. The work included new stadium bleachers and regrading of the girls varsity softball diamond to eliminate a left field hill, along with adding new covered dugouts and netting to prevent foul balls from landing in a nearby parking lot.
District 95 board President Doug Goldberg said money that already was in the sports complex budget will be used to move the softball field fence. He said work on the stadium expansion cost less than projected, which is why the funds are available for the softball field.
While board members complimented the overall work during a presentation in August, they raised concern about the idea of a 185-foot outfield fence. Officials said the fence used to be about 215 feet from home plate in some places. They also questioned whether the short porch could prevent Lake Zurich High from hosting regional playoff games.
Illinois High School Association officials said girls softball diamonds typically are 200 feet to left, center and right. Lake Zurich's 185 feet would have met the recommended minimum distance established by the National Federation of State High School Associations that is used by the Illinois organization.
When the Lake Zurich High girls softball starts in the spring, the field will be 190 feet to left field, 215 feet to center and 185 feet to right.
"Although the field met the minimum standard of an IHSA softball field - including a continuous arc within the footprint of the available area - when the field was completed, the board of education asked the administration to review options to make the outfield deeper, especially center field," Malek said.
Goldberg said the short porch would have "changed the dynamic of the game" with more home runs.
Right field on the girls softball field bumps up to left field for the boys baseball diamond.
Mundelein High School's softball field is 185 feet to the fence in all fields. However, Mundelein has an 8-foot-tall fence in an effort to prevent an excessive number of home runs from being hit.