Police, firefighters join effort to build new baseball field at Racine school: "We can't repair it"

RACINE -- Police officers and firefighters Sunday, August 27th joined the effort to build a new varsity baseball field at Racine's Case High School.

"Seeing our kids invested in the program and out here doing some of the work -- they really want to have a baseball field so they can get better on it," James Ricchio, Case High School baseball coach said.

It's difficult to have home field advantage if you're never on your home turf.

"Our goal for today is (to raise) as much as we can!" Coach Ricchio said. "You understand the importance of having a quality baseball field to play on."

The current Case High School field is in bad shape.

"It's got some pretty bad lips and the fencing is in disrepair. It's outdated to the point we can't repair it with what we have," Ricchio said.

Built in the late 1960s, the Eagles outgrew their overgrown ball diamond years ago. They have played two home games in the last two years.

"Shooting for the stars -- two fields we'd love to have, we'd love one for JV to play on eventually and varsity, which would probably be around half-a-million dollars," Sheri Krenzke, fundraising coordinator said.

Krenzke is part "baseball mom," part "volunteer" and part "fundraising manager."

"And they piggy back on and asked if they could join," Krenzke said.

On Sunday, August 27th, the Charity Alumni Game and Home Run Derby was kicked off by a fire and police department rivalry.

"A lot of our guys got off at 6:00 a.m. They got a two-hour nap, and they were here playing, and some of the firemen just worked a 24-hour shift and they got off at seven," Ben Mieloszyk with the Mount Pleasant Police Department said.

Officials with the South Shore Fire Department and Mount Pleasant Police Department chose to dedicate their annual contest to Case High School, helping raise $1,400 Sunday morning.

"We're always part of the community, on duty, off-duty, whatever we can do to help out and help people in need -- whether it's the baseball team or the general public," Dustin Ellis with the South Shore Fire Department said.

Home field advantage may have to wait, but hometown pride won the day on Sunday.

Organizers said companies in the area have already started stepping forward, offering to help build a new baseball field when the time comes.