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The new batting cage has proved to be a popular addition to Prospect Park. Here, a minor ball player practices his swing. New Prospect Park batting cage already used by 800 swingers BY FRANCES NIBLOCK Acton mino r ba 1 lpla yers are brushing up on their swinging skills at the new batting cage at Prospect Park. The $35,000 professional batting practice equipment has been operating for one month and so far about 800 batters have tested their skills, including most of the 235 baseball players who are signed up with the Acton Minor Baseball Association. Those players are each getting a free try-out on the equipment and local coaches are being urged to include a batting cage workout as park of their team's practices. President of the Acton ball association, Cornelia Turpin, said daytime use of the cage has been slow but night and weekend use continues to pick up. "We have coaches who want their players to have the extra batting practice and we have people coming out and using it for recreation. The machine can be set for softballs and fastballs and it can be adjusted for speed and variation of pitches," Turpin explained last week. ' At $1 per session the cage has generated about $800 so far for the ball association, which is responsible for maintenance of the equipment and purchasing the balls, which cost $1,500 for 300. The Town actually owns the cage and equipment since it sits on Town land. Turpin explained that the batting cage was built for young players in town. "We did it for the kids. Acton needs better batters and pitchers. Watching the kids play, it is evident they need more regular batting practice and this seemed to be the best way to get it." The cage is open nightly from 6 to 9 pm. On Saturdays its open from 9 to 4 and again from 6 to 9 pm. Sundays it's open from noon to 4 and again from 6 to 9 pm. Lions Club Atoms manage wins over Hornby, Glen Acton II Lions Club faced two tough teams last week in Atom minor soft ball action. The local side's first game was last Monday in Hornby when Acton clobbered the home squad 12-5. Ryan Turpin led with good performances on offence and defence, smashing a homer and a triple and striking out six. Brydon Perry cracked a triple and a single, David Wells crushed a double and a single for four RBI's and Craig Lockwood hit two singles for the Acton Ladies' six-game winning streak ends with 9-1 loss to Caledon visiting Acton club. The Lions Club's next game was in Acton on Thursday hosting Glen Williams. The Glen was a little tougher but Acton still came out on top 12-10. Ryan Turpin smashed a grand slam home run and a lone homer for five RBI's, while Brydon Perry cranked a triple. Craig Lockwood bashed a double and a single, with Travis Stewart, Jamie Dunn and Chad Greenwood each batting singles for the home squad. BY MIKE BROOKS The Acton Ladies fastball team played a pair of games last week, but could only win one of the two. Last Monday Acton went into Cheltenham riding a five game winning streak, and started quickly on this night to make it six in a row taking the host squad 5-2. Tina Duncanson and Tracy Hagan started with singles, and Boo Tufford doubled to score Duncanson and advance Hagan to third. Suzi Tufford followed with a single to score Hagan and give Acton a 2-0 lead. In the bottom half of the first, Cheltenham battled back to cut the lead to 2-1. There was no more scoring until Three-way tie for first in Acton Condo ball loop At the halfway point in the season the top three teams are all tied at 16 points each in the Acton Condo fastball league. After a rained out Friday, last Sunday's sunshine saw all the teams in action except the league leading J&D Chiefs. The Dicken's continued their unbeaten ways with a seventh inning pair of runs to upset the Fat Freddy team by a score of 6-5. The Nationals have done nothing the last few weeks but exploded against the second division, beating both the Roadrunners and the Cougars to move into fifth place. Fat Freddy's picked up their ninth win and a tie for first place with a win over Merchants in their second game. Super Sub thumps Rockwood Super Sub dominated in their match against Rockwood last Tuesday in Atom minor soccer action, blanking their rivals by a 6-0 count. Joel Petkoff kicked in a hat-trick, while Derrick Inscoe, Michael Rowsell and Mark Chumley each helped with lone markers for the local squad. the fifth, when Acton tacked on another two runs. Stacy Hillier led off the frame with a double, Duncanson tripled to score Hillier and Hagan followed with a single which scored Duncanson to give Acton a 4-1 lead. In the seventh, Helen Knowles reached first base on a fielder's choice, Boo Tufford followed with a walk and Knowles went on to steal home. Cheltenham replied with a run in the bottom of the seventh to make the final score 5-2. Acton played Caledon East last Tuesday and as with all good things, winning streaks unfortunately come to an end. With a six game winning streak, the local side would leave on the losing side in a 9-1 game. Caledon East started quickly with two runs in their first at bat, then they upped their lead to 5-0 with three runs in the third inning. Acton's only run came in the bottom of third when Helen Knowles tripled, and scored on a Diane Hancock single. Caledon would tack on four more runs in the latter innings to give them the 9-1 victory. Tina Duncanson and Hancock each had three singles in the losing effort for Acton. The ladies' next games are tonight (Tuesday) in Acton and tomorrow (Wednesday) in Hillsburgh. An Acton Under-17 All-Star player (In white jersey) goes In hard after the ball in action against Kincardine on Sunday afternoon at M.Z. Bennett. Acton lost the game 3-0, but further details were unavailable, as a game report was not submitted. Branch 197 Peewees split a pair with Glen Williams, Puslinch Last Monday the Acton Legion Branch 197 Peewees visited Glen Williams and came home with an 11-5 loss in minor softball action. Damn Reid and Dave Dolliver each cranked triples, while Joey Goralewski and Jeremy Wallis contributed to the five runs with singles for the visiting Acton squad. The Peewees played hosts last Tuesday to the visiting Puslinch team and won by a 16-11 margin. Robert Turpin bashed a homer, a triple and a single, while Kevin Moreland hit a triple. Dave Dolliver and Ryan Townsend each cranked doubles and Dave Clarke and Daniel Lawrence each batted a pair of singles in the win.