Drivers Strike Out With Baseball Field Next to Parking Lot

Discussions are continuing about changes to the Bridgewater-Raritan High
School baseball field—but the most important thing is to move it away from the parking lot, the superintendent says.

School board member Arvind Mathur said recently that one discussion item was to have Bridgewater Baseball give money to put a turf field at the high school, but the original proposal was for more than $1.4 million.

“That is more money that either booster club has,” he said.

Instead, Mathur said, they have discussed with Bridgewater Baseball about installing turf inside the field and keeping grass on the outside.

“That might come in under $400,000 for that, and so we might be able to get that done,” he said.

Discussions are continuing and a decision has not yet been made.

But Superintendent of Schools Michael Schilder said the most important thing is to move the field away from the parking lot it is currently bordering.

“Cars are hit more often than we know,” he said. “There were many foul balls [at a game I just attended], and it was amazing that it fell between cars a lot.”

Schilder said that is the most important step at this point.

“My recommendation is to move that field to the left to get it away from the parking lot, and situate the score board so it’s in playing view,” he said. “For safety purposes, no matter what we do, it’s extremely important to get rid of the hazard.”