Who's got the Nicest Stadium/Field?

Who has the nicest HS baseball field/stadium?

I like North Davidson's setup, reminds me of The Sunken Diamond.

West Forsyth has a lot of hill space and the grass is impeccable.

North Forsyth also has a nice setup as well, and their field is in fantastic shape with nice large dugouts with the brick backing and netting. They've got great fans as well.

 

HS

In south Charlotte,

Coach Simmons puts a lot of time in and it shows at Charlotte Christian. This facility is top notch in terms of infield surface, uniformity and consistency of the outfield turf and overall setting. In addition the dugouts are spacious, the lighting is excellent and a new scoreboard tops it off. Could use a little more bleacher seating though. We've seen a lot of college facilities that aren't this nice.

Also, of course, S Meck is a great facility but I will defer to the Sabers to fill you in.

In terms of infield surface, Coach Greason and East Meck is tough to beat.

Finally, Coach Hignight at Providence has turned that field around from its pitiful and sad state just a few years ago.

 

How about a rating system... what are the main elements that make up a good baseball field?

Playing surface (including mound, grass and drainage)
Scoreboard
Dugouts
Seating
Extras

With those 5 elements rating 1-5 (5 being the highest) here are a couple good one's I've seen this year:

Bessemer City:
PS - 5 (not a weed on the field, not even in foul ground)
SB - 4 (nice, but no running score)
DO - 4 (nice fencing, but a little old)
ST - 4 (seating isn't the best, but its up high, you can see everything)
EX - 5 (how about a phone on the field for the umps to call in the changes to the pressbox? pennents in right center of the teams in their conference. well groomed outside the playing area with bushes - well kept up)

Watauga:
PS - 5 (1/2 inch of turface on the infield, hardly ever a rain out)
SB - 3 (average)
DO - 5 (especially above home side dug out a locker room/pressbox)
ST - 3 (average)
EX - 5 (great music, well groomed bushes outside the playing area, indoor hitting facility next to the ball park)

 

Eastern NC

From an eastern NC perspective, went to a spring break tourn. at West Brunswick HS at Shallotte. They have a very nice baseball facility, in particular observed was their home team dugout is spacious and is actually a part of a large block building that also consists of locker rooms and coach's offices, & maybe other amenities? Also there's an indoor batting cage in a large metal building that is just beyond the other building along the right field side. Looked like a first class playing surface. Excellent scoreboard with running score. New & spacious aluminum bleachers. Only negative was below average / tiny restroom facilities.

In general, a couple of issues come to mind for HS fields. Do you prefer the home team dugout to be on the first or third base side? You see it both ways. And why would you choose first or third? I always liked 3rd base side because when you are coaching at 3rd base box you are closer to your dugout; it just seemed more convenient for making decisions on substitutions and communicating this & other matters with asst. coaches, scorekeepers, & players in the dugout.

Other issue for HS's, is it best to have your baseball & softball fields adjacent to each other? I know there are several pro's & con's, but a pro to me would be that crowds / attendance may be somewhat better (more socializing opportunities for the HS kids / parents, other fans) which can translate into better gate monies & concession profits, and just an overall better atmosphere & support for the programs.

 

another issue: backstops on fields

sorry, thought of another issue. What about choices for backstop screens between chain-link fencing & the new nylon(?) netted fabrics that are increasing in popularity? The nets are more fan-friendly & attractive, but I wonder about potential for vandalism in cutting up a net, which I assume would be a pain to repair/replace.

 

We have some nice pnes in the RDU area...

Four of the nicer High School Fields in our area include: (And I am speaking of fields at the schools, in no particular order)

Orange High School (Hillsborough) - Dean Dease has done an outstandig job with this one over the years... Outstanding place to play and a Beautiful high school field!!

Wakefield High School (Raleigh) - Another beautiful place, spacious, field is impeccable. Ed Hall has done a great job here!!

Jordan High SChool (Durham) - Devy Bell works hard here on this one!! Another beautiful place with the pines in the outfield as a natural backdrop.

East Chapel Hill - The only drawback here is the fact that there are no lights. According to Phil Woodell, the neighbors are worried about too much noise from baseball games (It sits next to a neighborhood full of million dollar homes)... It has a wonderful covered hitting facility down the right field line and a pretty good one on the left field line that visiting teams use.

 

TC Roberson

TCR has a new press box, stadium seating, lights and PA system making their facility second to none. All we need is a few teams to join us for a couple of tournaments this summer when it's 95- 100 degrees everywhere else in the state.

 

TC ROBERSON

TC has the best facilities that I've seen. We have played twice there this year. It is nice. I do like the Bessemer City view also.

 

ACR fans agree...

Homerun friendly, too!!

(sorry, wncbb - just couldn't resist....)




Seriously, tho, it is a very nice facility, as nice, or nicer than many colleges have.....

 

Also...

Charlotte Christian's powerful public address system can be heard for miles up and down sardis rd.