BY BERNIE MIXON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Nicky Cavallaro, 6, left, tries to catch as Cameron Anders, 6, center,avoids the ball and David Stogsdill, 6, chases Cameron.
(Ryan Miller photo)
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COLERAIN TOWNSHIP -- Jessica Gegner paused for a second to wipe the sweat from her brow, readied the ball in her glove and tossed it across the plate.
"Strike!," yelled the umpire. It was the sound the pitcher for the Hilltop Purple Power girls softball team wanted to hear. "If I can get them out, I really like it a lot," said Jessica, with a smile.
On a recent hot June evening, softball took center stage as it has for 33 years at Hilltop ball fields on Civic Center Drive, a tradition that has been recently threatened by development.
Hamilton County commissioners are studying a proposal to turn the ball fields into a driver training course for the Hamilton County Sheriff's department. Commissioners will take up the subject today during a staff meeting.
"If they don't give us an alternative, we don't have anywhere to go. There's no choice for us," said Tony Nocero, vice-president of the Hilltop Athletic Association.
For about 30 years, Hilltop has maintained four ball diamonds on part of a 16-acre parcel. In exchange, the county allowed the organization to use the land at no cost.
"It was always the understanding that if it was required by the county, we would ask them to find something else," said William Stautberg, Hamilton County property manager.
In the spring, William Brayshaw, Hamilton County engineer and Hamilton County Sheriff Simon L. Leis Jr. asked commissioners to use some of the undeveloped land for a salt storage facility and a driver training course for police, respectively.
"So in working out the details, what made sense was for the sheriff to locate the course on part of the 16-acre parcel, which is directly behind his headquarters," Mr. Stautberg said, adding the engineer will look elsewhere for his salt storage facility.
Five acres of the 16 acre site would be needed for the driver training facility. But because of the way it is configured, the facility would cut through three of the four ball fields.
"Given that Hilltop never had a lease, we were still sympathetic for their situation and put off building the thing until after Hilltop's current season," Mr. Stautberg said.
But more than just having a place to play, the loss of the fields will mean an end to an activity that has taught children life lessons of camaraderie and teamwork and built self-esteem, said Michael Koon, president of the Hilltop Athletic Association.
"We are not unappreciative. We knew one day the county would want the land back," Mr. Koon said. "We are giving parents a place to gather with their children."
