July 27, 2011 at 4:21 p.m.
Batting cage added to HFF projects
Diamond Club and Rhinelander Little League donate $15,000 for cage to be installed in new gym
Batting cage added to HFF projects
By Jonathan Bailey-
For that reason, among others, the Hodag Diamond Club and Rhinelander Little League pitched in $15,000 to the Hodag Facilities Foundation's (HFF) ongoing capital campaign for the installation of a new indoor batting cage in the Jim Miagza Community Gymnasium. The donation was approved by the Rhinelander school board Monday.
The future batting cage will stand eight feet tall, 70 feet long and 12 feet wide and features collegiate style nets. The mechanics of the raising and lowering action allow the cage to set up in just five minutes. It will give both high school athletes and little league players even more chances to swing year round.
"Really what it does is offer us more opportunities to hit indoors," Hodag Diamond Club President Gary Kellen said. "Our winters are so long and our springs are so long that it just gives all of the baseball teams, as well as the softball team, the opportunity to practice indoors. I think two of the last four years, the first time we were on grass, we were in a game."
"All kids involved in baseball and softball can benefit from the indoor batting cage," Rhinelander Little League President John Reinthaler added. "It's such an immense advantage because you can get in so many more swings and so many more batters. Five years ago we had two hitting stations and very limited access. We have grown that to eight hitting stations (six cages), giving everybody more opportunities."
Both organizations have been driving forces behind a massive upgrade of Rhinelander baseball and softball facilities the past few years. Among the improvements are batting cages at Hodag Park, an indoor batting cage at Central Intermediate School, sound systems for Stafford Field, Hodag Park and Pioneer Park, a new junior varsity diamond and a number of enhancements to the playing and viewing experiences at Stafford Field.
Kellen said that they take pride in their facilities and are proud of how far that they have come in the last few years. Stafford Field recently served as the host of a 2011 American Legion regional tournament. It also hosted an invitational earlier in the year.
"We've received a lot of compliments from other communities about our facility," he said. "They want to come and play here in Rhinelander and it's nice to be competitive. The further north you are the harder it is to get outside. We want to be competitive and we've really enjoyed it the last couple of years with winning a state championship in legion ball last year and having a very good high school season this year. You hope the little kids look up to (the high school program), they want to play baseball and you give them that opportunity."
The $15,000 donation for the new batting cage was paid in full. Kellen noted that it was an about equal gift from both the Hodag Diamond Club and Rhinelander Little League.
The future batting cage is a small part in the upgrade of RHS facilities, which includes a renovated gymnasium. The gymnasium is expected to be ready for use in mid-November.
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