Turf Club Learns While Doing at Gulf Coast Softball Classic

Transcription

1 Turf Club Learns While Doing at Gulf Coast Softball Classic This past weekend 7 MSU Turf Students helped prepare fields for play at the Gulf Coast Softball Classic at the Gulfport, MS Sportsplex. The students worked under the direction of Ken Edwards, CSFM and his crew at the Sportsplex. The event hosted 11 NCAA Division I softball teams (including Mississippi State) and 35 high school teams. Over the weekend 53 games were played and the students had a hand in the preparation of nearly every field. The Gulfport Sportsplex is a premier facility and a set of 5 fields were used for NCAA teams with 3 game fields and 2 warm up fields. The NCAA fields were fully dragged, leveled and re chalked between each game. As the weekend went on field prep time decreased from 40 minutes to just under 30. A set of 4 fields were used for high school play. Preparation for the high school fields was even quicker as the fields were not fully dragged between each game but were rechalked and the high traffic areas were re leveled. The event started with a kickoff and harbor cruise on the Ship Island Ferry with some of the NCAA teams and tournament officials on Thursday night. Friday the games began on the NCAA fields at 10 am and the high school action started at 3:30 pm. The day ended around midnight, when the all the fields were reset for Saturday play. Saturday began with high school games starting at 9 am and college games starting at 10 am. The day ended again after the high school fields had been fully dragged after play and the temporary fences removed. On the NCAA side, play concluded at 11 pm and the fields were reset for Sunday Morning after these games concluded. Sunday was an easy day as there were only 4 games. The students and crew drug out the practice fields when the teams were done with them and removed the temporary fences from 3 fields. The fields for the final games on Sunday were prepared by the students alone under the watchful eye of Ken Edwards and his crew. This was a great learning experience for the students. Over the weekend the students experienced the use of 4 different types of infield drags and all the tools needed for leveling fields and marking foul lines, batters boxes, and pitching circles. The field maintenance crew including the students received many compliments for their hard work and the excellent playing conditions. MSU alumni Rueben Wedgeworth of AGRI AFC and Brad Rounsaville of Beard Equipment provided dinner for the field maintenance workers on Friday and Saturday. The students making the trip were Keair Edwards, SR, Gulfport MS; Caleb Paulus, FR, Olive Branch, MS; Stephen Roberson, JR, Starkville, MS; Griffin Rogers, JR, Patterson, LA; Connor Carlisle, JR, Searcy AR, Tyler Henson, JR, Weir, MS; and Aden Cruthirds, SR, Ocean Springs, MS. We would like to thank Ken Edwards and his staff and the Gulf Coast Softball Classic for this great learning experience. Barry Stewart, PH. D. Mississippi State University, brs40@msstate.edu

2 Tyler Henson, JR, Weir, MS uses and infield groomer at the Gulf Coast Softball Classic.

3 Connor Carlisle, JR, Searcy, AR, uses and Infield Pro at the Gulf Coast Softball Classic.

4 Griffin Roger, JR, Patterson, LA, grooms the infield at the Gulf Coast Softball Classic.

5 Tyler Henson, JR, Weir, MS chalks a the 3rd base line at the Gulf Coast Softball Classic.

6 Caleb Paulus, FR, Olive Branch, MS, rakes a pitching circle, while Keair Edwards, SR, Gulfport, MS; Connor Carlisle, JR, Searcy, AR; and Steven Robinson, JR, Starkville, MS, prepare a batter s box at the Gulf Coast Softball Classic.

7 Connor Carlisle, JR, Searcy, AR prepares the pitching circle while Caleb Paulus, FR, Olive Branch, MS, smooths the infield with an Infield Pro, while Keair Edwards uses a rake to smooth the infield at the Gulf Coast Softball Classic.

8 L to R Tyler Henson, JR, Weir,MS; Barry Stewart, Associate Professor of Plant and Soil Sciences, MSU, Steven Robinson, JR, Starkville, MS; Keair Edwards, SR, Gulfport, MS; Connor Carlisle, JR, Searcy, AR; Caleb Paulus, FR, Olive Branch, MS; Mr. David D Aquilla Tournament Director and Director of Gulfport Leisure Services, Griffin Rogers, JR, Patterson, LA; Ken Edwards, CFSM, Sports Field Manager, City of Gulfport, MS.