Elm Street Field Work

As you probably noticed, Elm Street field was serviced last Tuesday (11-May) by Harrod Landscaping with a goal of improving the field’s drainage.  The work took one day and did not impact the schedule for any games.

·         Between 3-7 feet of grass at the infield/outfield border (lip) was temporarily removed with a sod-cutter and put aside while the dirt beneath was leveled.  Over 8 square yards of a mucky clay mixture was removed (which caused a lip, preventing water to drain to the grass area naturally, and also created an unsafe playing surface).   The sod was returned to the original location and rolled/compacted.

·         A laser-grade was taken of the entire infield playing area to denote high/low spots.  Machinery was brought on the field to properly grade and deep-rake the field while cultivating and tilling the clay infield mix to make it move around more easily.  The goal with a proper pitch of the infield will be to aid in drainage towards the foul lines.  With bad rains, the field will indeed get wet, but hopefully in a consistent way that will drain properly.

·         Approximately 1-2 tons (two pallets) of bagged infield soil conditioner (Turface AllSport™) was added to the field and blended with the clay mixture with power-raking.  Soil conditioner helps the field breathe easier, aids in drainage, prevents compaction, and makes for a generally softer/safer field.  This should help allow any standing water to be absorbed into the field better or make it flow more freely to the drainage areas.  The manufacturer recommends adding conditioner to the infield every year for about 3 years until the conditions are noticeably better over time.  We plan to do just that.

·         Home plate was damaged during the work, and new one in on order.

Again, the goal here is to improve drainage so fewer games are called on account of wet fields while the sun is shining.  The work is guaranteed up to six months so if visible problems occur we’ll get such problems addressed asap.

AASL is committed to continuously improving field conditions at Elm Street and NARA Park to make game play safer and more enjoyable for all participants.  Similar work to the NARA field is being discussed.  Other field improvement projects are also being considered as time and budget allows.  If you have any suggestions or recommendations on how to improve or fix these fields, please send your feedback to AASL and we will review accordingly.