After pushing for the reconstruction of dugouts, both the Strath Haven High School baseball team and the Strath Haven High School softball team officially have new dugouts for the 2025 season.
Excitement for the spring sports season accelerated after Strath Haven High School finished the highly anticipated building of the dugouts. However, this plan was set to happen much earlier.
“We have been trying for 15 years or so to get dugouts,” varsity baseball coach Brian Fili said. “There’s always hurdles to go over as far as fundraising money. We had the plans set, the drawings set, but once COVID came we put it on the shelf for a while.”
Senior softball player Ella Liberi explains the necessity of having dugouts and the excitement fueling the teams coming into the season.
“A big part of being on any team is wanting to have a dugout because the team is connected and everyone is together,” Liberi said. “Seeing the softball and baseball teams both get them makes us really happy. We are all super excited about this so that excitement leading into the season will be really awesome building off of.”
Fili appreciates former Assistant Superintendent Dr. James Conley for his help in the process of getting these dugouts for the school, as he was the one to bring it up to the school board. The school funded the construction, but, for the baseball team, fundraising will supply the inside of the dugouts.
“We’re going to use the money that we started fundraising for these dugouts to buy all the things for the inside, like helmet racks and benches,” Fili said. “They built the structure and we decided we were going to put the things inside it.”
Fili anticipates the dugouts to improve the games and performance of the players.
“There will be a lot less distractions because we’re going to be inside the dugouts and won’t have people coming in from the outside since there’s fencing around them,” Fili said. “It’ll be more organized because we can hang up practice plans on the wall.”
While the new dugouts allow a place for the players to stay while waiting for a turn on the field, they also provide a sense of nourishment and encouragement to the teams.
“It’s something that our players need. It shows that we’re taking care of their field and that’s important to the players,” Fili said.
The dugouts are not the only exciting update for the softball team.
“We’re also getting batting cages and a scoreboard too,” junior and softball player Annika Slootmaker said.
With the new installations, the teams believe they will be able to improve both their skill and bond with their team.
“It’s something exciting for them to come into every day after school. They have something they can call their home,” Fili said.
