By BOBBIE GREEN
The Progress
It was a big day for the City of Mesquite’s girls softball league on Wednesday, April 3. The Mesquite Elks Lodge 2811 donated a brand new, and much needed, Pitching Machine to the league to help the girls with batting practice.
The league includes four teams: the Braves, the Dodgers, the Rockies, and the Astros.
Members from all four of these teams gathered at the ballfield before their games on Wednesday to receive the new pitching machine. On hand to present the equipment were members of the Elks donation committee Eddie Lopez, Linda Josephson, Susie Reynolds, Bill Oskin, Frank Chadwick, and Ellen Middleton.
“We are thrilled and proud to be able to give this much needed pitching machine to the league,” said Elks Exalted Ruler Eddie Lopez. “The Elks lodge is here to help the community. We love raising money and putting it back into the community.”
Lopez stated that since the local club’s advent in 1991, Elks Lodge 2811 has raised and donated $500,000 back to the community.
“In this case it was easy,” he added. “We had an anonymous donor that paid for the full amount.”
Local softball coach Monty Dibble said that the new machine would be a welcome addition to the league. “This machine can do almost everything but catch the pitch,” Dibble said. “It can pitch slow, fast, low and high making good practice for the girls.”
Manny Lujan, a four-year volunteer for the girl’s league teams said, “This pitching machine will be a great help to the teams.”
