Prep baseball insider
Xenia sports complex benefitting local baseball teams
High school, college baseball teams enjoy having all-weather surface close by to use.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
SPRINGFIELD — North High School and Kenton Ridge wouldn't have played baseball Saturday, April 5, in any other season. The weather rendered their fields useless, and the game would have been postponed for the second time in a week.
That would have been a shame, because even the losing coach, North's Mark Stoll, said, "you couldn't have asked for a better-played game."
Extras
Get latest headlines via RSS feedsThe Cougars won 1-0 in 10 innings, but the bigger story was the location of the game: the Athletes in Action sports complex in Xenia.
"I just can't say enough about it," Stoll said. "The kids were kind of in awe of it at first."
The Athletes in Action field is covered by the newest generation of AstroTurf, the synthetic grass that looks like real grass. The only dirt on the field is the pitcher's mound.
Athletes in Action opened the field last June for use by its team, which plays in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League, but this is the first season it has been used by local colleges and high schools.
Matt Richter, who oversees the baseball field, said it has hosted nonstop games and practices since February. Wright State held 10 practices there in February. Cedarville University and the University of Dayton have practiced there. After the North-Kenton Ridge game Saturday, Urbana University beat Walsh at the field.
Xenia Christian uses the diamond as its home field, but high schools from around the area are quickly discovering the benefits of having a field nearby that stands up to rainy weather.
"The ball plays well off (the turf)," Kenton Ridge coach Aaron Shaffer said. "I was worried it would play like the old AstroTurf, but it plays just like grass."
Stoll said North paid $250 to play a doubleheader there Saturday (it beat Catholic Central 15-4 in the first game). A single game costs $150 for high school teams — or $75 per team if they split the cost.
Richter said college teams pay $300 for a single game or $500 for a doubleheader.
If not for the field, Kenton Ridge would have had just one contest under its belt entering Monday's game against Shawnee.
"One game wouldn't have been good," Shaffer said. "It was good they got it moved there."
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0351 or djablonski@coxohio.com.
