Suring preparing for first pitch

Improvements at ball fields in How and Breed are off to a promising start this fall, in preparation for the first high school softball and baseball games scheduled next spring for the Gillett-Suring co-op programs. Two games, against White Lake and Niagara, are scheduled in the Suring area for the co-op team, with baseball and softball played on the same night. Baseball will be played at the town of How field, with softball at the town of Breed field. Other home games for the co-op will be played at Orby Jones Family Sports Complex in Gillett. On Monday, Suring students began to register for the teams. It will be the first time Suring students can participate on school-sponsored baseball and softball teams. Suring School Board member Wayne Sleeter said volunteers from the Breed Sportsman Club are preparing the Breed field for softball. They will spread several loads of black dirt to fill in low spots in the outfield, plant grass seed and move the pitcher’s mound currently set for baseball. Suring Youth Baseball has pledged $2,500, which Sleeter said will be used to pay for the truckloads of dirt needed at the two fields. Suring’s tech ed department will be asked to build benches for the Breed dugouts and a scoreboard for the How field. School Board President Dennis Piepkorn volunteered to tinker with a scoreboard stored in the Breed shed. “I think it’s very promising,” Sleeter said, about the preparations. Suring Superintendent Kelly Casper said a name should be chosen for the co-op teams and hopes to get players and coaches from both schools involved in the process. The districts also share a wrestling program. The softball head coach and assistant coach positions are vacant, and Suring and Gillett are advertising to fill the roles. Another uncertainty is the uniform design. “The only thing that we know is they will be using the same pants as last year, because they had new pants. They’re gray with a black stripe, so it’s just the jerseys we’re looking at,” Casper said. Sleeter said school officials need to determine the cost of uniforms and other start-up expenses, then work to secure sponsors to cover some of the costs.