Sound Off: What Can Be Done to Help the Baldwin High Softball Team?

Around $10,000 of fundraising could be lost by 's varsity softball team, WTAE has reported, as the girls have been left without transportation home from a tournament in Myrtle Beach, SC.

The team——still hopes to leave Pittsburgh via US Airways for a tournament in Myrtle Beach next week, but the cancellation of its flight home by Direct Air, which suspended flight operations on Tuesday, leaves Baldwin with only a week to find alternative travel for its return.

Cheri Young, of the Baldwin Softball Boosters, tells WTAE that the girls could book a bus ride home but that that expense would run them an additional $5,000, an amount too difficult to raise in such a short time.

If Baldwin decides not to go on the trip at all, it would lose approximately $10,000 that it has already spent on non-refundable hotel rooms, car rentals and tournament fees, according to WTAE's report.

WPXI's report on the girls' dilemma notes that the team is scheduled to leave on Wednesday, March 21. The return home was to be on Sunday, March 25.

Some parents have offered to drive the girls back from Myrtle Beach, but doing so would be against school policy, WPXI reports, and booking other flights home has proven to also be too costly.

Any ideas on how to save this trip? Share them in the comments section below. Anyone have $5,000 lying around?

The team and its boosters worked hard to raise money, but circumstances out of their control have put their plans in jeopardy.

 ---

Follow the Baldwin-Whitehall Patch on Facebook and Twitter.

Sign up for the .