Leading off today: The Town of Tonawanda made a $450,000 mistake last year that underscores the need for paying constant attention to safety in sports, as
The Buffalo News explained over the weekend.
The town paid the money to settle a lawsuit brought by a man who was injured at the Brighton Park batting cages when a ball ricocheted off another ball and hit him in the face.
That's one more reason why no one gives a second thought to the use of faceguard-equipped batting helmets in youth-level softball leagues. According to the newspaper, the faceguard is showing up in girls fast-pitch softball leagues but not boys baseball leagues.
The different distances between the pitcher’s mound and the batter's box -- as little as 40 feet in softball vs. 60 feet, 6 inches in baseball -- seems to be the reason for the different approaches, which the National Federation of State High School Associations supports.
"The two games are totally different games," Eliot Hopkins, the National Federation's baseball rules editor, told the newspaper. "In softball, girls are closer to the mound than baseball. The techniques are vastly different."
Baseball batters may wear faceguards if they choose, Hopkins said, but the National Federation began requiring softball hitters to wear faceguards last season.
Minton benefit scheduled: The family and friends of Daniel Minton Jr. are holding a fundraiser Sunday, July 15, from 1 to 6 p.m. at the New York State Fairgrounds near Syracuse.
Minton sustained a broken neck on March 10 while competing for the Syracuse Nottingham wrestling team. The junior-to-be was paralyzed by the injury and has had two operations to stabilize his spine. He
