Heights High softball team fundraises for new home field

After years of playing at Forest Hills Park, the Heights High Lady Tigers Fastpitch Softball team is hoping to play on a new home field at the high school this spring. The newly-formed Lady Tigers Fastpitch Boosters are working with the CH-UH City School District Athletic Department on a plan to build the field for the team, and they need help from the community to make it happen.

Businesses interested in purchasing advertising at the heavily-traveled intersection (the school is located at the corner of Cedar and Lee roads) should contact the Cleveland Heights Fastpitch Boosters Club at heightsfastpitch@gmail.com or 216-554-2002. Individuals can support the team through a raffle to win an iPad 2, and by purchasing limited-edition Tiger Nation license plate frames. The winning raffle ticket will be selected Feb. 10 at the Heights Symphony concert. License plate frames are available at the high school athletic office.

Tax-deductible donations can be made through the Reaching Heights website, www.reachingheights.org.

Head Coach Jessica Kaltenbach, now in her fourth season at the helm, has made impressive strides since taking over a team that had only one win the year before her tenure began. Since then, the team has earned a Lake Erie League Championship and is now competitive in the league. The returning team of players, led by senior catcher Diamond Jones, junior pitcher Alexa Sollisch, and sophomore Cayla Figueroa at third base, has been practicing year-round to prepare for the season. With an exciting crop of incoming freshmen and returning underclassmen, the team is poised to make some noise in the league again this season. 

The softball team has never had its own field, but instead has been bussed to Forest Hill Park for home games–an additional expense for the Heights High athletics program. As a result, few fans come to the games and the team has never enjoyed a true home-field advantage. The Heights High baseball team has its own field on the Heights grounds, facing Cedar Road. Fastpitch softball cannot be played on a traditional baseball field because the infield and pitching mounds are of different distances.

The project will include upgrades to the infield dirt and outfield grass. Additions will be canvas-top dugouts, a portable home run fence, new backstop fencing, new grandstand with concrete path, and a new scoreboard. The total cost is estimated at $30,000. The district has pledged support in the form of manpower, which will significantly reduce the amount of money the boosters need to raise.

A brochure with more images of the project can be seen on the Cleveland Heights Softball Facebook page, Cleveland Heights Softball (make sure to filter for pages when searching on Facebook).

For more information contact: Larry Sollisch, president of the Lady Tigers Fastpitch Boosters, at klas1985@roadrunner.com; or contact Jessica Kaltenbach, head coach, or Kristin Hughes, athletic director at the high school.

Larry Sollisch

Larry Sollisch is president of the Lady Tigers Fastpitch Boosters and the parent of two team members.

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Volume 5, Issue 2, Posted 3:13 PM, 01.23.2012