Proudly dressed in her Sunnyvale South Little League umpire uniform, 6-year-old Lindsey Chase sat through almost 2 1/2 hours of Sunnyvale City Council discussion on May 10 to find out if her beloved league would get to install batting cages.

The council voted 4-3 to approve the revised De Anza Park sports field plan to allow the installation of a batting cage. The vote followed a series of failed and substitute motions, friendly amendments and flaring tempers.

The decision was the last approval in a series that started on Dec. 6 when the Sunnyvale Elementary School District said it supported having cages at the southwest corner of the ball fields next to Ticonderoga Drive.

The cages in question are 70 feet long and 12 feet high, with enough room inside to have two pitching machines shooting rubber balls toward a pair of batters. The cages would have netting inside to reduce

the sound of balls hitting the chain-link sides of the cages. Noise in batting cages is further reduced by the use of rubber balls instead of typical baseballs or softballs, replacing the sharp "ting" of a hit with a dull thud.

The league discussed the project with the community at a March 1 public meeting at the De Anza Park Building. League representatives said the reaction by neighbors at the meeting was positive, as was the response to door-to-door visits made by other members.

Batting cages have become staples of baseball and softball leagues around the South Bay because they provide a place for safe, controlled batting practice without the risk of stray hits bouncing off nearby homes or teammates. They also allowed more consistent, faster pitching that parents and players can't provide.

"We need pitches at 50 or 60 [mph]," Lindsey said. "My dad's my coach, and I don't think he can pitch that fast."

Lindsey and her father, Mark, 50, said many players go to neighboring cities to pay for time in privately owned cages, as much as $3 for as few as 10 balls a round. Chase said it was not rare for a coach or parent to spend $60 or $70 for a round of cage practice for a team.

"If we have our own machine, we can have unlimited pitches. We can work more with kids who may need more help," Lindsey said. "And we can keep the money that goes to other places for our own league. We can buy better uniforms, and take better care of our fields."

Sunnyvale Southern has been fundraising for three years to meet the $24,000 cost of installing cages. Many of the league members were on hand at the meeting to support the installation they've been dreaming of for three years.

League President Doug Warmke said the cages would also help the league expand--providing more activity for more Sunnyvale children--by preventing them from losing players to better-equipped teams in the area.

But other reactions to the cages were more mixed at the council meeting. Two dozen neighbors turned out to ask that the council not approve the cages at the planned location. The neighbors--many of whom live on Ticonderoga--said they wanted to see the cages in a different spot, away from the street, to reduce the noise of the cages and allow public safety officers to see clearly into the parking lot. The cages are going between the parking lot and street, leading many to worry that the young people who already use the lot to hang out and spin in circles while driving will engage in other, unsafe activities.

When it came time to vote, council members were clearly divided on the issue. Councilman Fred Fowler's successful motion, to revise the De Anza plan and allow the cages, was followed by various motions and proposal to further research the issue, postpone the issue and amend the motion.

Fowler said that although the neighbors had expressed their concerns at the meeting, there were a number of chances for them to do it beforehand, and due diligence had been done.

He also said he was inclined to side with the children of the league who could learn life lessons from sports.

Fowler's motion passed on a 4-3 vote, with council members Julia Miller, Otto Lee and Dean Chu dissenting.

"I know the homeowners who live across from the site want to see if kept open, but it's a public space and should be used for a public activity," said Councilwoman Melinda Hamilton. "I don't see anything that could be gained by delaying the decision for three months."

And for the Chase family, a better prepared batch of hitters may do more than just win more games and feel better about themselves.

"Hopefully I'll get hit by less balls," said Lindsey's 20-year-old brother Justin, an umpire.

For more information on the Sunnyvale Southern Little League, visit www.ssll.org.