By Michael Letendre 

Logistics are everything in life. 

If the set-up, for whatever task you’re trying to accomplish, is missing something, the whole endeavor will likely not come out with the anticipated outcome.  

And that works in the world of sports as well, whether it’s at the professional or scholastic level. 

But let’s keep things on a local front and turn our attention to high school softball. 

Each season, the Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern softball teams battle it out – twice a year – in what turns out to be tremendous showdowns and competitions between the schools. 

Of course, each team hosts one of the games and usually, the spectator turnout is impressive because of those intense battles. 

But shouldn’t those rivalry games be played from a neutral site, like the baseball squads in town enjoy in their crosstown wars from Muzzy Field? 

That answer, which seems simple in scope, truly isn’t as logistics may not be set-up for a game of that magnitude away from the high schools at a local field or facility. 

But it appeared someone was heading in a direction this season that would have made a nighttime softball games between the Rams and Lancers a real possibility.

For the first time in years, the schedule worked in favor of a night contest between the softball programs. 

The CCC schedule maker usually had Central and Eastern play softball and baseball on the same day (causing havoc for local journalists trying cover both events). 

And if the softball game, always played first, went a bit long, some of that crowd – who would then go on to watch the BC/BE baseball game at Muzzy – would either show up late or not attend the contest from Muzzy Field at all. 

So booking these city series bouts on different days is a big deal because if you eventually want to play the softball game at night.

You can’t have both city series games slated for the same day at nearly the same time. 

But the logistical issues continue in terms of a neutral field.

In the city limits, is there a venue that could house such a softball game between the Rams and Lancers? 

There sure is as Casey Field over on Middle Street is the perfect neutral game site for such an encounter. 

Seems easy to set up, right? 

Just reserve the date and play the game. 

Well, it’s truly not as easy as it sounds. 

In terms of positives, Casey does have some built in features to draw the game. 

The field has lights which helps fill out the evening criteria for the BC/BE encounter. 

There are dugout areas and the facility is certainly neutral enough for the teams to compete at. 

And if you bring a lawn chair, there’s plenty of good spots to take in the game. 

Those are some of the pluses for the contest at Casey but there are some critical items missing for a showdown of this magnitude from Casey Field. 

The lack of scoreboard is a huge negative as even the basic home and visitors’ tally is important to display at a city series showdown. 

There isn’t a fence in the outfield – something that the public-school fields in town suffered with for years. 

If the ball is hit at Central or Eastern, as least there’s a fence.

Without a fence, where the is the ball considered out of play?

And who wants to chase a ball rolling into oblivion?

Alex Shorette, Eastern’s senior centerfielder, is one heck of an athlete but if she wants to run all game, chasing after balls smashed to the outfield by any number of capable Central hitters, sign her up for the 3200 meters on the track and field team instead and watch her go.

A softball game without an outfield fence is like playing a basketball game without a three-point stripe. 

It just doesn’t make sense today and if you are playing a game on a court without a three-point line, leave the area immediately! 

But back to Casey Field.

In terms of seating, it would be nice if Casey had more permanent places to sit but that’s just not how the layout was designed (same goes at both Central and Eastern, too). 

And what will the physical set-up of the field look like that day?

That’s a pressing problem as well. 

One time, when I was covering a Bristol Little League Softball Series game for the Bristol Observer, coaches and players came to the field and discovered the mound was not in the correct position. 

And that took a ton of time, tools, and extra effort to sort out. 

You’d figure an easy fix would have everything ready days ahead of time but if other squads rent the venue out, you can’t prep the field early. 

And if you prep a field early you can’t watch all day, who is coming in-between fixing the infield and game time?

If Central and Eastern must play a ton of make-up games (a couple weeks ago, Central played six days in a row for crying out loud), coaching staffs, who would likely have to work on the field themselves, probably can’t devote extra time throughout game day to get Casey ready because of fulltime job commitments. 

Those are just some of the possible issues with playing the game at Casey. 

The shame of it all is looking at the condition of the two high school fields in the first place. 

Central’s field had issues to start the spring season and the program had to switch its schedule up a bit. 

Eastern’s field was in much better shape but why can’t we have a ‘neutral site’ set-up in town that has all the logistics ready to go for a BC/BE clash? 

Has anyone been to Plainville high school lately to check out their softball field set-up? 

Plainville has one of the best, if not the best, softball facilities in the Central Connecticut area. 

Why can’t we have that set-up in Bristol? 

True, Plainville has received a generous donation or two to help make that impressive facility but we deserve the same in Bristol. 

Frankly, should the BC/BE games be played every year from Casey Field at night? 

Absolutely. 

These girls in town play a remarkable brand of softball on the scholastic level – winning a combined 27 games over regular season play and shouldn’t these athletes be able to strut their stuff like their counterparts do under the lights in front of a packed house? 

Of course they should. 

The Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern softball wars should always be played at night, in a prime-time setting. 

These athletes deserve better. Much better…

The reality is the field set-up at Casey isn’t quite logistically ready for two-times-a-year use for a high school caliber game. 

Maybe in the future, Casey Field will get enough of a facelift to make BC/BE battles possible.

That would be a tremendous boon for everyone in town who enjoys scholastic sports. 

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Just hope it doesn’t rain on game day…