With the baseball and softball seasons not too far away, both programs are excited to have brand-new turf fields for their upcoming season. Unfortunately, there has been a halt on their field, due to renovations. They are planning on redoing the field to put in turf to benefit the players. And overall make it a better playing surface to compete on.
The renovations started in mid-November and are planned to finish by late February. The season starts prior to the end of the renovations, so all the players are having to adjust around not being able to use their field. For the most part, they have to practice during their own time outside of school.
“This will be super beneficial for our players because the field will always play the same, and defensively help our defense out big time,” Varsity Baseball Coach Garver said. “This also makes maintenance after practice and games way easier for our guys and that way we aren’t at the field super late after games having to get the field ready. This also financially helps out a lot.”
The renovations could be a challenge for some due to transportation and no access to fields and cages, but the senior group from both baseball and softball look to help in any way possible to make sure they can practice as a team. This year will start a lot differently than recent years in the past but the challenge isn’t something these programs think will affect the upcoming season.
“We have a good group of guys and it is a little setback, but we don’t think it’s anything major and we aren’t worried about not having somewhere to train or play once our season begins,” senior Colin Mooney said. “Looking at this in the long run it has a lot of benefits, especially now we don’t have to do as much to the field as we would if it was still dirt.”
The process of getting this all done was run through the district and part of the reason the fields won’t be ready is due to them having to wait for approval from the committee, and now that they have that green light they are moving super fast and making good progress with the fields. Along with Vista getting new turf, some of the other schools in the district are doing the same thing with their fields. The softball and baseball head coaches are very excited because they think this will benefit their teams in so many ways, and keeping up with the field won’t be such a pain now that there is turf.
“We can honestly turn games over quickly, and anytime we have inclement weather as long as there is no lightning we can get onto the field as long as the field drains,” Varsity Softball Coach Romero said. “The difference is when you have a dirt field it may take two days to get onto the field because it has to dry, and when it’s turf you do not have to do that.”
As of right now, both teams are in the off-season and using Gupton and Ranger Stadium to get a good chunk of their training in. With limitations to what they can do at their fields, players often go to these fields take ground balls, and get in agility work. Some players may have never played on a turf field or aren’t comfortable with it but it’s a lot easier to take ground balls on turf than it is on dirt and a lot of players are realizing that when they go to these spots to train.
“I enjoy going to Ranger field with my friends on the team to get in ground ball work and also long toss,” junior Roman Callow said. “It’s always fun going out there because the music is always going and we all just bond super well and all love training together.”
Ranger ladies softball have their first scrimmage on January 25, 2025 and baseball starts their season with a scrimmage on February 1, 2025. Be sure to come out and support these teams!
