Crow River Review Crow River Review 7/14/16 | Page 10

Page 10 Crow River Review www.CRVLbaseball.com Winsted pitching Stats Young America pitching Stats Andrew Ghostley Brennan Gilyard Tony Kley Jacob Volness Brady Jenkins Shane Khan Matt Elsenpeter ERA 0.00 0.00 0.28 1.14 3.21 3.65 4.50 IP 1.0 1.0 32.1 31.2 14.0 37.0 4.0 H 1 0 16 23 10 26 3 R 0 0 5 6 6 21 2 ER 0 0 1 4 5 15 2 BB 0 0 1 7 10 27 3 SO 1 0 45 35 8 50 8 W 0 0 2 3 1 5 0 L 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 TOTALS 2.01 121.0 79 40 27 48 147 11 3 Troy Kohls Isaac Hormann Caleb Hormann Aaron Cook Tanner Kohls Alex Buckentine Jon Werner Adam Kostecka TOTALS ERA 1.93 2.05 4.50 5.06 5.40 7.20 15.00 18.00 IP 23.1 22.0 2.0 21.1 13.1 15.0 3.0 4.0 H 24 20 2 38 10 24 5 10 R 10 7 1 17 11 21 5 12 ER 5 5 1 12 8 12 5 8 BB 4 9 2 16 11 9 2 4 SO 13 17 1 16 6 13 0 1 W 2 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 L 2 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 4.85 104.0 133 84 56 57 67 6 6 Giving back with field maintenance By Brad Johnson With many baseball fields around the league, there simply isn’t a large budget for field maintenance. The league relies on municipalities, coaches, players, and volunteers to take on the roles of maintaining the ball field during the season. Town baseball fields are being used at a high rate and although it’s great never seeing them sit empty, the proper maintenance must be obtained to create a playing surface that is safe and sustainable. As teams come together prior to the season to talk rosters and schedules, it’s also a great time to talk field maintenance. Within this article we will look at baseball infields and the few key factors that can keep your field looking great. Scheduling is one of the most important items in maintenance, but at the same time, it’s one of the most overlooked. Creating a schedule for your field can help with consistency Fall aerity of the infield grass at Denis Campbell Field in Winsted. SUBMITTED PHOTO and allow you to plan and budget. A simple schedule should include mow- lowed to grow so long that more than Irrigation — Proper watering is ing dates, irrigating times, fertilizer/ 1/3 of the leaf tissue would need to be crucial to maintain a healthy infield. pesticide applications, special tourna- cut to get it back to the recommend- Watering cycles should be set to water ments, and maintenance projects. ed length. Letting the grass grow too deeply and infrequently. This means Now that a schedule is developed, long before cutting it can cause dam- that instead of running irrigation allet’s look at each factor a little more age to the turf. This may require mul- most every night for short periods of closely: tiple mowings per week. Bagging is time (10 minutes a station), the cycles Mowing — Infield turf, if possible, always a great option to give a nice should be set up for fewer days and should be mowed with a push mower clean cut; however, if clippings are re- longer watering times (30 minutes a at a height length between 1 and 2.5 moved, some more fertilizing may be station). This will allow the water to inches. The grass should never be al- required. percolate deeper into the soil profile and allow for deeper and healthier roots. Cycles should be set to run in the early morning hours. It’s ideal that the watering wraps up around 6 a.m. This helps prevent turf diseases, as the leaf blades will dry out quicker in the morning sun instead of staying damp throughout the entire night. Fertilizer/Pesticide — A field should see at least four fertilizer applications per year (2lbs. N/1000sq ft). Fertilizer can be applied in liquid or granular form. The first application should include a pre-emergent crabgrass preventer, applied when soil temperatures have reached 60°F (May). Two more applications should take place during June through August. The final application is prior to the turf going dormant Watering and taking care of the grass is essential to having a great field to play on. (first week in November). This will be stored by the plant, and used next year coming out of winter. Herbicide applications, if possible, should wait until the fall. This will yield better results, as weeds are storing nutrients for the winter months and the herbicide can work its way into the root system, killing the weed 100 percent. Maintenance Extras — These include spring dethatching and fall aerification. Both serve different purposes, but are key to helping to allow air to the turf and soil profile. Spring dethatching breaks up the mat that has been created by the winter’s snow pack. Getting this mat and dead material lifted will allow for quicker greenup. Aerification usually is performed after Labor Day. It’s a great time to relieve compaction that occurred from activities throughout the season. Be sure not to give up on the field once the season has ended. This is a great time to re-sod, straighten edges and work on larger projects. Baseball field maintenance is a season-long effort. With a minimal budget and some hard work you will surely see positive results and continue to put smiles on kids’ faces every time they step on a beautiful field. Brad Johnson can be reached at [email protected].