It’s always fun to watch when large crowds gather at some outdoor high-school sporting events during the spring season, especially when there are more fans on hand than stands.
In that case, some spectators are willing to do whatever is necessary to find a revealing sight line to be able to see the action.
That was the case the night of May 20, when the McLean Highlanders hosted the Yorktown Patriots in the Liberty District tournament championship baseball game. High-school baseball bleachers usually have just a limited amount of seats. When they become full, those left behind there gather in all kinds of spots to see, like squeezing against fences down by the left and right-field lines.
Sometimes, fans try to peek over the outfield fence, maybe by standing on the hood or tops of cars, or in the back of pickup trucks. Others stand on the top of storage sheds until told to get down.
Others also were gathered up high, sitting on the top of a wooden fence bordering a classroom trailer. Many more wedged their bodies in different manners behind McLean’s big backstop to get a straight-on view.
In addition, some watched from a wooded area behind the first-base stands, others tried to peek through the windscreen attached to the outfield fence, and some watched from on top of or inside the pressbox.
Basically, fans used their imaginations to gather at any spot, big or small, and at all angles, anywhere they could find an edge to best see the action.
Spectators would have stood or sat on top of the dugouts, if allowed, but they weren’t.
If the stands fill at baseball and softball games at Yorktown, spectators have a unique option to watch from behind the outfield fences, which in each spot the site-lines are above the playing surface.