Intramural field project underway

We’re almost halfway home to better fields.

That’s the message coming from GCSU’s intramural sports department this week as the rainfall this past weekend provided a test of the recently-completed infield upgrades on the softball fields at West Campus.

“We had to wait for rain to see what adjustments needed to be made to the infields for them to drain properly,” program assistant Chris Russell said.

The fields appeared fairly dry Monday afternoon, a day removed from two days of solid rainfall that drenched Milledgeville. However, crews are still putting the finishing touches on the new drainage system, using the rain as a marker to identify places that need adjustment.

The fields are still expected to be ready for play by the beginning of softball season.

Russell said the upgrades will make future maintenance to the infields easier for intramural staff and they are hopeful weather conditions during the spring semester will be improved.

“We won’t have to mix in sand to help the infields dry, which adds to how unlevel a field can be. We’ll be playing 20 games a week for six weeks on these fields, and it takes a toll, but now the fields are much more equipped to handle it,” Russell said.

However, the consequences may be further-reaching.

“With the new infields, the quality has improved to the point we might be able to host the state softball tournament at our fields, instead of Walter B. (Williams Park),” program assistant Stephanie Jergel said.

Jergel said the event would be first state tournament ever hosted by GCSU.

Other additions to the complex include a professional-grade drag to improve the staff’s ability to keep the fields smooth, and a sound system with a speaker facing each field, giving intramural staff the ability to provide music between games or make announcements to everyone at once.

As for the outfields, participants will have to wait a while before seeing marked improvements.

“We have a certain budget for this project, and we’re ensuring we stay under those limits,” Russell said.

“We certainly won’t do anything until the infields are completely finished, and at that point we’ll evaluate what we can do.”

Posted by Caleb Rule on Jan 22 2010. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry