We now have two seasons in the books at our new home so it’s update time again. This year we kept a log of our activities and what we used so this can help us plan for future seasons.
We started the year in February by filling in a sunken area in-between first and second base with two tonnes of regular topsoil. It was manually levelled (using a line
marker as a guide), seeded, roped-off and left to settle. The dirt edges were re-cut where needed. Additionally we lifted and rotated the mound rubber. It wasn’t in a bad condition but this will ensure equal use over the years for not much effort.
A recommendation to other clubs is to set markers in the outfield for a guide. We used eight blue sports ‘carrots’ at 300’ from home plate and found that this worked well. So often, when the fence is erected before games you turn your back and then look around to see a fence either too far in (usually) or too far out. Some carrots will be replaced in spring 2025 as the mowers trim a bit from them.
The big plan for 2024 was to install batting cages. These were two side-by-side cricket nets fixed into the ground with simple postcrete. We avoided any costly expense and additional planning permission by not opting to go for a concrete slab. We chose 72’ long which could accommodate pitching with a catcher although we knew that would be a squeeze practically. The width and height were 14’ as t
his meant both sides of the plate could be used with full swings without having to move home plate. The was important as our plan included for artificial matting and to have home plate painted as we know that when leaving the field not everybody checks for kit left around.
Once the cage and netting was up we located the black rubber grass mats (included with the cage) to the batting end and covered it with an external cricket matting and pinned it down. This provided enough spring but we had to put signs up that using the mats could not be with metal spikes as that would ruin it quickly. We decided that asking people to change shoes was not the worst thing but if someone wanted to take some swings with spikes during a game for example, they could simply move off the matting and hit off the grass without costing themselves time.
We painted home plate and the two lines closest to it with external spray paint. We thought it was weatherproof but unfortunately it faded before too long. We shall look to improving on that for next season.
We made two simple pitching rubbers from 2×4 timber and sunk them into the ground for both cages. For next season we are looking at making a simple wedge shaped pitching mound in one of the lanes (it cannot be both as part of our agreement with the school is that the cages can be used for cricket should the need arise). We will be reusing the clay rich spoil taken from where the poles were located which is helpful.
Over the season we completed repair work on the dig-out section on the mound five times, the landing area three times and the batters and catchers box twice. We also strimmed the grass around the dirt edges and fence approximately five times. A total of 16 unfired clay bricks was used. They were all dry so we crushed them up with a hammer and used water as usual to bond it to the existing clay which worked fine. It would be nice to have the black clay in bags that is used in north America as that stuff works fantastically but so far, we don’t know of an importer.
We used a total of 48 wheelbarrows of dirt over the course of the season. There were 28 wheelbarrows just to top up the exposed dirt areas that had been washed or blown away over the winter which was the first task we did in April, it’s astonishing how much is lost without noticing. Yes, there would have been a smaller amount as we did not top up at the end of the previous season due to not wanting to waste dirt but the
quantity was still large. Approximately half of the dirt in our new storage area was used and some simple maths says that around three cubic metres was used. It is difficult to know the exact weight of this if we wanted to order exactly the same again but if we equate the dirt to be the same as topsoil then the internet says it would between three – four tonnes.
The field held up very well. We continued to only use the mound for game days only which helped a lot with the maintenance and the standard we wanted to keep. What was noticeable was how all of the dirt edges and lips had to be kept tidy and maintained as they want to build all the time. These are annoying as the change in level is hazardous to play on and they are frustrating to rectify if left alone. We found that an inspection of wearing flat trainers and standing halfway on the dirt and grass to feel if there was the beginning of a lip or the dirt needed topping up was a reliable way of checking. Simple but effective. Rolling the edges after a strim in spring when the ground is soft made a difference too.
The weather in 2024 was certainly mixed. There would be no brown grass in August but there was enough of the sun at times to start cracks in the dirt. This would have not happened with regular watering but a water supply close to the field is still on the to-do list. When the rain did appear it closed up the cracks nicely thankfully.
As part of putting the field ‘to bed’ for the winter we lifted all of the cage mats up and stored them in a container – this was not a one-man job! We also lifted and cable tied the lower part of the net by a foot so that it did not touch the grass. As expected, the grass was completely dead under the mats and Mother Nature had already started to encroach on the netting by twisting grass around it so this was certainly the correct choice. In a perfect world we would have looked at removing the whole of the netting but this would have required both kit and storage which we don’t have and then it would be a case of trying to wrangle enough volunteers. Extra eyelets were also added to the tarpaulins as the damage caused by the mower in season one has only got worse and putting pegs through the material only makes things worse.
The dirt storage worked very well during the year but as we removed the dirt the tarpaulin inevitably began to sag. As part of the post season fieldwork we added a trellis type of roof for the tarpaulin to lay on so that when the rain comes it won’t end up with a large swimming pool for the ducks and causing us more work to rectify in the spring. It should be fine to leave as we could get a shovel in the gaps but time will tell.
There are further bright signs as we look towards 2025. The rugby club who use part of the outfield during the winter have contributed to solving the problem of drainage that has been at the school for years. Simply by jetting the drains running at the top (higher) part of the field has helped with drainage immensely, so much that a university game was played on the field in the middle of November. The ground was softer than desirable, just not soggy and unplayable as in previous years. This gives us hope that we should not be as hampered as much as before with conditions for the beginning of next season.
As always, we share our experiences to help the baseball community and to promote the importance of field groundwork. We welcome any questions should there be any and will continue to document the progress. Did somebody say enclosed dugouts with a roof…
Some Numbers….
Pre-season
Dirt quantities (wheelbarrows)
Mound – 5
Home plate – 6
Catchers walk – 4
1B – 5
2B – 4
3B – 4
Total 28
Season
9th May Dig out repair 2 wheelbarrows, 2 bricks
16th June Dig out repair & landing, 3 wheelbarrows, 3 bricks
RHS batters box and catchers box, 4 wheelbarrows, 4 bricks
11th July Fixing the wet mound, 2 wheelbarrows
2nd August Dig out repair & landing, 2 wheelbarrows, 3 bricks
22nd August Dig out repair and landing, 2 wheelbarrows, 3 bricks
Home plate top-up, 5 wheelbarrows
RHS batters box, 1 brick
2nd November Post-season maintenance 1: Wooden lattice on dirt storage; Remove cage top matting and rubber matting; Repair tarps with new eyelets
9th November Post-season maintenance 2: Raised the batting cage netting off the ground; Removed dried-on paint from line marker
Estimated times for strimming during the season approximately 5-6 hrs
Total wheelbarrows – 48
Total bricks – 16
Sections
Costs (as of 2021/22)
