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