Pasco-Hernando State College Volume XIV, Issue II Fall 2020 | Page 16

ATHLETICS
UPDATE
A Field of Dreams Sleeps
The new turf baseball field proudly
sports the Bobcat spirit.
Head Baseball Coach Lyndon Coleman and his
Bobcat ballplayers ushered in the 2020 season
with dreams of playing their season on a shiny
new field—built of turf. According to AstroTurf,
the company that creates the synthetic materials,
it earned a reputation in the baseball world as
providing the most naturally-playing surfaces on the
market. Importantly, AstroTurf’s use of nylon in the
base paths creates realistic sliding distances and
enhances durability in high use areas. Specialized
fibers, differentiated pile heights, and tunable infill
ratios are critical to creating the ultimate field
for ballplayers.
The decision to go turf was made with several
factors in mind. Mostly, time and cost of field
maintenance, and sometimes unplayable field
conditions. In a recent interview for the Hernando
Sun, PHSC Athletic Director Steve Winterling said,
“To maintain (the field) on swampland has been
tough for years, ever since I built the field. There
were a lot of intangibles there. It’s a full-time job to
maintain.”
Just into the start of the season, Coleman had
his job cut out when the project start date was
announced. He scrambled to secure alternate
ball fields for the scheduled home games during
the three weeks needed to complete the project.
Although the new field installation would interrupt
a season filled with hopes of getting back to the
NJCAA Baseball World Series, all were excited for
the outcome.
On February 28, the project to install the selected
AstroTurf System began, which included more than
32,000 square feet of synthetic material. In just four
days, the construction crew removed over 70 dump
truck loads of existing material, completing the
subgrade to allow for the new materials to be laid.
By day five, the construction crew was working from
sun-up to sun-down, the field was to subgrade,
drainage installed, and concrete curbing prepped.
Coleman reported project updates through social
media, announcing on day 10 that the field was fully
prepped to begin turf installation and with home
plate installed, opening day on the new synthetic
field was only weeks away. In his Tweet on March
11, Lyndon wrote, “TURF IS GOING DOWN TODAY!
These guys are flying. It only took them one day to
lay the entire field. Tomorrow they will start cutting
everything in.” And, by March 15, installation of
sand and rubber infill began.
The laying of the colorful Bobcat spirit logo behind
home plate brought the project nearer to close. But,
as all dreams have twists and turns, this one ended
just shy to becoming reality.
On March 16, days away from the grand opening
of the new field, and what was supposed to be
the final walk through and first practice on the
newly laid artificial turf field, NJCAA announced
all spring sports were cancelled for the remainder
of the season due to coronavirus related activity.
Bobcat ball players, and college athletes of all
sports around the nation, were crushed at the
season ending decision. Of course, that did not
stop Coach Coleman and Bob Bade, Ed.D., Senior
Vice President and Chief Student Affairs and
Enrollment Management Officer, from testing the
field themselves!
With his sights set on providing a state-of-the-art
ball program and getting back to the World Series,
Coleman said, “It’s unfortunate, how this season
ended, especially for my sophomore players.
However, we have a lot to look forward to next
season—both with this remarkable new field, and
the acquisition of a Yakker Tech portable hitting and
pitching unit, the latest technology in data collection
devices. Pitching and hitting development is going
to change exponentially here at PHSC.”
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