Short Fence for Dist Playoffs

We just came back from Tucson for a tournament with 72 teams played on 12 ML spring training fields. Even though the fields at each of the 2 complexes were built at the same time, none were the exact same dimensions.

The last game we played was on a field called Hi Corbett 5. The dimensions were, L-400', C-401', R-400' with a 30' fence! That was the most immense baseball field I ever saw in my life! We had one boy hit the bottom of the fence down the line in right for what amounted to a 400' triple and there were a couple of balls that were hit that ended up giving the batters an extra base they would have never gotten on any normal field.

Was that fair? Of course it was from the standpoint of the outcome of the game. Was it fair from an individual player's standpoint? Heck no! Our kid would have had a home run in any major league ball park, but got a triple there. On the field next to us, a kid hit a ball 315' and circled the bases to cheers! When the players are chosen strictly on their stats, which would look better?

Choosing the "most" neutral ground to play a championship on is nothing new. Our state HS governing body stages all of the HS championship tournaments at college fields because the HS fields have mounds all out of whack and such varying field conditions that doing anything else would be a travesty.

Our LL district always plays all but the 1st round of all star games at one facility because it has accommodations to play simultaneous games to cut down on the logistics.

I've seen LL fields that are 135' down one line, some leagues play games on HS fields with 325' fences down the lines, and some fields don't have any fences at all! You have to go with what you have access to. I'd be willing to bet the owners of that field would gladly move the fences if you paid for all of the changes necessary. On the other hand, we built a field several years ago and purposely make the lines 185 and center at 190. We wanted the kids to hit balls out!

Just go with what you get and make the best out of it! Tell your pitchers to make better pitches and your hitters to make better contact!