Moved Softball Fence Angers High School Principal

Officials at a New Jersey high school are upset after the outfield fence at the school’s diamond was moved back 20 feet without permission. 

In a letter to parents, Freehold Township High School principal Alecia Scelso expressed her anger over the fence being moved. 

“It is extremely disheartening to know that members of the community would interfere with the daily operations of the high school,” Scelso wrote, according to Daniel LoGiudice of the Asbury Park Press. “And, I hope, that no member of the softball community was involved in this outrageous incident.”

Video surveillance footage of the field shows multiple cars entering the school parking lot on the evening of April 27.

Scelso said that the Freehold athletic director had received several complaints from parents who argued that the outfield fence was too close to home plate.

Guidelines from the National Federation of High Schools say softball outfield fences should be between 185 feet to 235 feet from the plate, and Scelso said the fence was within that range. 

The school has filed a report with the Freehold Township Police Department.