The Crawford County R-1 Board of Education on Nov. 20 approved an estimated $15,800 project for a high school batting cage.

Superintendent Brian Witt presented a quote from Sportscon to build the batting cage.

“This is not coming out of operation funds, this is not coming out of project funds, this is coming out of the (athletic) activities fund that we have been able to put off to save for the last couple years,” said Witt. “When it comes to the springtime, our baseball and softball teams have not been able to have practices.”

Athletic Director Devon Payne attended the meeting to clarify answer questions related to the quote. He mentioned Chris Pohrer from Sportscon came down to visit for an on-site evaluation.

“They gave us the most basic introductory level price, and then they gave us, ya know, if we were the Mizzou Tigers price,” said Payne.

Sportscon measured the multi-purpose room and gave a recommendation to build the cage on the far side of the solid wall to avoid the door where people enter and exit next to the restrooms.

The plan is to put the batting cage in the multi-purpose building on the far side. The cage will be a custom 65 feet long, 14 feet wide, and 14 feet high.

“This was the same company we used to install the basketball goals in the high school a couple years back, so we’re working well with them,” said Payne. “The multipurpose room has the most open, usable space and with it being retractable from the ceiling, we don’t have it at kid level.”

Stephen Waldron asked about equipment.

“You got a portable mound or anything like that, to put in there?” Waldron asked.

Payne said no.

“The concept would be basically for hitting,” said Payne. “I mean, we’re not going into game situations for baseball.”

Waldron asked about flooring. 

“Is this coming with turf?” asked Waldron.

“We’d have to see what funds-wise, where we’re at the end of the project, to see if that’s plausible,” said Payne. “We’ve been needing it for a long time, and just having that extra space, this doesn’t solve all the problems, but it makes a giant step in the right direction, to where right now we have the cage that is downstairs, and it’s great for what it is, but it’s not made for a whole team practice.”

Sean Kaysinger made a motion to approve the batting cage quote in the amount of $15,800 as presented. Jessica Sutton seconded Kaysinger’s motion, which passed with a 7-0 vote.

In other business, a five-year lease purchase for new buses was finalized through Town and Country Bank with a 7-0 vote.

Waldron was nominated for the Missouri School Board Association (MSBA) school representative from Region 12 for their nominating committee, a three-month commitment. The nomination comes with the expectation that the representative will attend two short Zoom meetings and one in-person meeting in March.