After several years, the RISD board agreed to provide funding to replace the RHS baseball grass fields with a turf field using the 2020 RISD Bond due to the economic, maintenance, and safety issues arising.

“We’re fortunate that it was placed on the bond and the community supported the bond,” athletics coordinator Leslie Slovak said. “So when the bond was passed, we were able to replace all eight fields, four softball fields, and four baseball fields.”

The grass field required a lot of maintenance physically such as mowing the lawn and seeding it during the off-season to make sure that it suitable to play on.

“It takes a lot to maintain a grass field. Every time before practice, I have to go outside by myself and it takes me an hour to flat out the grass and put dirt on the field,” Coach Mike Tovar said. “After every practice, all the players no matter how much they are tired, still have to clean up which takes about 45 minutes.”

Because of the maintenance of the fields being reduced with a turf field, Slovak said that it takes a lot of pressure off of the coaches.

“Our coaches were spending a lot of time maintaining their field so that it would look good to be playable,” Slovak said. “Our coaches can now focus more on other things than having to get to a game and prepare their field for a game.”

Due to drainage issues, many games and practices were canceled or moved to another location that had a turf field.

“The purpose behind this renovation was to basically give our kids the ability to be on a field and our coaches, where we don’t miss practices, we don’t miss games,” Slovak said. “It takes a lot of manpower and a lot of overtime for maintenance and operations.”

Replacing the grass field with turf will eliminate the physical labor that went into #maintaining it unlike how it was required before.

“I am glad that they are changing it,” Tovar said. “Lots of other schools have #already changed their field so we are actually kind of behind with this change.”

The full renovation from tearing up the grass field completely to replacing it with a turf field, the total cost wound up to one million dollars.

“They are expensive but at the same time, eventually, they pay for themselves because we no longer have to use manpower to groom fields and maintain the fields,” Slovak said. “We don’t have to worry about having to hire people to maintain them over time, taking a lot of pressure off our maintenance and operations department.”

Despite the high cost of this replacement, Slovak said that it is worth putting the money into it.

“I feel like the pros outweigh the cons, anything that’s really nice and safe and worth having is going to cost money,” Slovak said. “I would much rather have the longevity of a ten to the twelve-year field before we even have to renew it again.”

Being under construction for the first few months of the school year, the baseball team has to make some changes to their practices in order to compensate.

“They are adjusting very well under the circumstances,” Tovar said

The baseball team already had some experience playing on the turf field due to playing outside games with schools that already had their baseball field replaced with turf.

“Every time we had an outside game and we knew that they had a turf field, we would practice in the MAC so that we would be more prepared when playing out there, ” Tovar said.

Due to the material the turf field is made of, Tovar said that the team had to adjust a little bit to get used to playing on the turf field.

“On a turf field, the ball bounces more and a lot faster than on a grass field,” Tovar said. “So I have to train them to be more reactive towards the ball and be more attentive so that they don’t miss it.”

The turf field being put down is exactly the same product that is on the Ranger’s new stadium, the Texas Ranger’s baseball team.

“We feel really good about it,” Slovak said. “We did a lot of research and had inputs from our coaches and the kids that have actually played on this product in other districts, all giving positive feedback to us.”

Unlike the football field, the baseball field has several advancements in its design such as having crushed coconuts spread across the field.

“It seems like the turf companies and the construction companies get better and better,” Slovak said. “I think the product we have now, it’s more durable, it plays better.”

This new technology of the addition of crushed coconuts helps with cooling the fields as it can hold in moisture since the turf fields can get hot.

“We are working really closely with the company,” Slovak said. “They train us on the best way to take care of the field, but it is nothing compared to the maintenance on a grass field.”

Since the turf field doesn’t have dirt, the team also has to adjust to the way they play the game to some extent.

“Instead of sliding into base, they have to make sure that they don’t slide too far, or else they will get flagged,” Tovar said. “Usually on a grass field the friction would help them get to a stop, now there is no friction stopping them.”

With this transition to the turf field, the school can also host some tournaments, and even playoff games

“We’re so proud of it and we’re so excited for our kids and our coaches and our community,” Slovak said. “In the past, we didn’t want to commit to hosting games because if we get rain, we might have to cancel and reschedule.”

While the baseball field is under construction, the baseball team has to improvise the way they practice for now.

“With the field under construction, we have gotten creative,” Tovar said. “We sometimes use half of the football field outside that has also been replaced with turf.”

As more and more stadiums in the big league are transitioning to turf fields, Tovar said that this is a good thing that the team will be able to practice and get a feel for it now.

“Most colleges have also transitioned to playing on the turf field,” Tovar said. “Like the stadium in Arlington where the Texas Rangers play is a turf baseball field.”

Though some colleges have not transitioned to turf fields quite yet, Slovak said that #it is easier to maintain since they probably have only one baseball field to take care #of.

“Even if colleges still have grass fields, it costs them a lot of money to maintain the #field just like us,” Slovak said.

With the season starting in mid-January, the baseball field is estimated to finish in less than a few weeks.

“I think that we’re going to see a significant change,” Slovak said. “I can say that this investment is good for our community, good for kids, and good for the district.”