Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Forest Hills ready to play

Coaches and teams get newly renovated baseball fields as the spring season opens Saturday.

By ELIZABETH MILLER
Published March 4, 2005

FOREST HILLS - When the national anthem ends and the first pitch is thrown out, the kids of the Forest Hills Youth Baseball League will be able to play on brand new fields Saturday.

The Hillsborough County-owned ball park at 9630 Orange Grove Drive had its facelift finished just in time for opening-day ceremonies for the spring season, which begins Saturday at 9 a.m.

The park has been closed for renovations since October as part of the county's efforts to bring its parks and playing fields up to date, park's president Courtney Bissett-Hayes said. Forest Hills wasn't slated to begin renovations until 2007, but Bissett-Hayes said her persistence won it an earlier date on the county's calendar.

"I'm pleased by the fact that we're going to open on opening day," Bissett-Hayes said. "Other parks have had their opening delayed a week or two. I'm thankful to the county for their diligence in getting it done on time."

With the fields closed the past couple of months, coaches have been making due by finding other fields for the kids' practices before the season kicked off this weekend. But the payoff of new fields was worth the inconvenience.

"Everyone's been very understanding," Bissett-Hayes said.

The Forest Hills ball park, now 30 years old, got $800,000 worth of improvements, including new bleachers and fencing. All divisions will have new playing surfaces. New lights on the back fields will allow for later practice times. Also, one field is now bigger, and the county replaced concrete dugouts with wire fencing.

"The wire fencing will provide a safer environment for the park, but we are going to put green screens around the dugouts to provide some shade for the kids," Bissett-Hayes said.

Though some finishing touches remain to be done, such as the scoreboards, the season will be able to start as scheduled and players can now practice at their home fields.

Saturday's opening day activities will include skills competitions in the morning, such as hitting contests, long-distance throwing and base-running races, followed by the season's first games in the afternoon.

The event is sponsored by Outback Steakhouse, which will be serving lunch.

Forest Hills Youth Baseball is home to about 400 players, ranging in age from 6 to 13. Some divisions may still have openings for players. For more information about the park, call (813) 933-4975.

[Last modified March 3, 2005, 09:12:11]