Taller Backstops Planned for Softball Field at Waveny

Town officials have approved a $6,400 contract with a Cross Street company to install new, taller backstops designed to control flying foul balls at the main softball field in Waveny. Known as the “Orchard Field”—on the right as you climb toward the crest of the hill on the main road, off of South Avenue (with the new ingress to the parking lot)—the softball diamond plays host to home varsity games as well as youth competition. The 10-foot-high backstop now in place—first installed in 1988—isn’t high enough to contain the girls’ foul balls, according to Recreation Director Steve Benko. Plans call for the center section to be raised to 18 feet, and the wings to be raised to 10 feet, Benko told the Board of Selectmen at the group’s regular meeting on Dec. 15.