Story by Gavin Bartolome & Owen Hou
Staff Writers

Illustration by Nathan Friezer
Staff Illustrator

While the baseball field may have high fences, foul balls are still occasionally hit over them both during baseball practice and in games. Just beyond the baseball fences are the swim and track facilities, which are on the third base and first base sides, respectively. The issue of foul balls has seemingly become more common, and pole vault and swim athletes have mentioned an increase in baseballs falling into their practice area this year compared to previous years.

A high school batter can hit a ball with an average exit speed of 75–100 mph, so the rubber-and-cork ball can break 80 mph on its fall back down. It takes only 25 mph for a car collision to create serious injuries, so 80 mph by a baseball can lead to concussions or even broken bones.

Currently, there is not a lot that the baseball team can do, as the occasional overthrow or foul ball may just find itself over the fences. As such, there also will be no likely solution for the issue anytime soon, as higher fences, nets, and other solutions would cost too much and not be worth the trouble to implement. Even so, the problem remains a hazard, and the two sports that are most affected, swim and pole vault, have had to live with the issue.

Within the pole vault team, members have mentioned their predicaments, having to practice next to the baseball field’s fences. 

“We’re pole vaulting out there, and if we have baseballs flying in out of nowhere, someone can get hit and someone can get hurt,” SPHS pole vault coach Lucas Tallin said. “Everyone’s yelling ‘heads’ when it’s coming over, but you turn around. Sun’s in your eyes. You can’t see anything.” 

The situation has become common enough for Athletic Director and Track Coach CB Richards to promise a free steak dinner to any athlete in the track program who manages to catch a foul ball. 

Another side of the story is the perspective of the swim team, which also sees the baseballs fly into their pool every so often.

“It’s definitely not super uncommon, but it’s not happening all the time,” swim captain Ana Mancera Rodriguez said. “I’ve never actually seen it hit somebody.”

The issue has always existed but has not been a very prevalent problem. Even so, there have been some instances of the baseballs causing a little chaos.

“I remember one time last year, we were having a home meet, and in between heats during the meet, a baseball just fell into the pool. So we had to pause the meets a little bit because someone had to get in the water,” Rodriguez said.

Even though the baseball problem may be a minor annoyance, swimmers still make the most out of the opportunity — whoever finds the fallen baseball first gets to keep it.

“We’re just keeping an eye out. You know, they’re not intentionally trying to hit the balls over to us,” Tallin said.