$5,000 worth of softball equipment, $8,000 worth of PA gear
stolen
For the second time in three weeks, a Live Oak High sports program was hit by a theft of equipment valued at thousands of dollars.
On Wednesday, the Acorn softball program had an estimated $5,000 worth of equipment stolen from a storage container at Community Park, the team’s adopted home field.
The theft followed close on the heels of a burglary March 12 involving an estimated $8,000 worth of audio equipment from the Live Oak High football field press box. That theft occurred sometime during the night after the audio equipment was set up in anticipation of the Raymond Relays track meet.
According to Live Oak head coach Barry McDonnell, the softball equipment stolen this week included three pitching machines, three dozen brand new softballs to be used during the season and 30 barely used softballs from the recently completed Circle of Champions tournament, a batting tee, catcher’s masks, and the contents of a first aid kit, along with the backpack in which the kit was stored.
McDonnell said the equipment was locked in the storage container, which is in full view of the parking lot where people hang out, after practice Tuesday about 6pm. Coaches discovered the items missing just before practice at about 3pm Wednesday.
McDonnell said a pair of bolt cutters were left on top of the storage container. He speculated that the burglars might have been planning to return for a field dragging machine left behind. McDonnell also said he believes the burglars may have known what they were looking for because they took the newer equipment and left the older equipment behind.
“This is pretty bad because we just got into a position over the past year where we had pretty brand new equipment and new uniforms, and now we’re going to have to replace all that equipment,” McDonnell said Friday.
McDonnell said the equipment will have to be replaced almost immediately and most of the stolen items will be purchased by Monday. He said early discussions with Live Oak Athletic Director Mark Cummins indicated that the high school’s insurance deductible might be as high as the value of the stolen equipment. That means the softball program will likely be left with the bill.
But McDonnell said he is still hopeful the school would still be able to help defray some of the expense.
Because the district only contributes $350 per season, not counting a $2,300 coaching stipend, according to McDonnell, the softball program raises most of the estimated $6,000 annual operating costs. (That includes transportation, and uniform and equipment replacement costs.)
This year, the program’s biggest fundraiser – the Circle of Champions tourney at Twin Creeks – raised an estimated $4,500. But McDonnell said that money may have to go toward replacing equipment immediately rather than helping pay for the program’s operating expenses.
“We have to have (the equipment) one way or another,” McDonnell said.
McDonnell, who has been the head coach since 2000 and an assistant for a decade before that, said the softball program was asked to move to Community Park in 2001 because of the placement of portable classrooms on the softball fields.
McDonnell said the program was told it could return in two years but five seasons later the team is still playing and practicing at Community Park. Now, he said he’s being told that it may be two more years before the portables are moved and the program can return to the campus.
He said the off-campus location creates transportation problems, lowers attendance at games, and leaves the program generally feeling left out. And, of course, now there are storage safety concerns, too.
In the March 12 burglary at Live Oak, the public address equipment provided by the Associated Student Body program was left overnight in the football field press box. The burglary was discovered the next morning before the track meet began.
ASB Director Norm Dow said the equipment will probably have to be permanently replaced by the ASB program because the school’s insurance deductible is about $5,000 and the school district likely can’t afford to buy new equipment.
He said there is a $500 reward for information regarding the burglary.
