F.O.Y.
F i e l d o f t h e Ye a r
Alpenrose
stAdium,
Portland, OR
Level of Submission: Schools/Parks
Category of Submission: Softball
Head Sports Turf Manager: Mike
Hebrard
Title: Head Groundskeeper
Education: Master's Degree in HPE
Experience: Mike was the bullpen
catcher and head groundskeeper for the
Amarillo Gold Sox (Texas League) AA affiliate of the San Diego Padres, 1979-82;
lawn seed sales, Pro Time Lawn Seed,
1985-93; owner of Athletic Field Design,
1993 to present, all athletic fields grass
and synthetic.
Other crew to recognize: Jesse
Johnsen, Sammy Field & the Alpenrose
staff; also Anthony Paul Murilllo, Bob
Proctor, and Andy Hebrard.
Original construction: 1956
Renovation: 2010
Reason for renovation: There are approximately 180 games a year plus family picnic games. With the ESPN 2
coverage for the Little League Softball
World Series, we try and make Alpenrose
Stadium a true showcase for Little
League International, Alpenrose Dairy
and District 4, AFD supporters and sponsors.
What was done: Sod cut and lips removed from grass edges, topdressed with
washed sand, aerated and slice seeded
with perennial ryegrass and fertilized. The
outfield has been topdressed with
washed sand for the pasted 10+ years
with a 1/4" each year. Due to skin infields
the past 3 years, an elimination of fungicides application since we didn't have to
try gerninate grass in 90+ degree
weather.
Turfgrass variety: Perennial ryegrass
Rootzone compostion: Native soil,
clay/loam, sand added with renovation
Overseeding: We topdress first, this allows the aerator to push sand into soil
profile, and since the plugs get coated
with sand, they tend to dry out quicker
and allow them to break up more when
slice seeded. We don't have the resources
to remove the plugs, so this also allows us
to reuse the soil to fill in low spots. If we
aerate first the plugs are matted into the
soil profile when it topdressed. We seed at
7 lbs per 1000 sq ft and topdress with 25
cubic yards of washed sand topdressed.
Drainage: No drainage system.
Challenges
The most unique challenge for the
grounds crew was the short window we had in
converting Alpenrose Stadium from a traditional and regulation little league baseball
playing surface to a traditional and regulation
softball playing surface, and back again.
32 SportsTurf | April 2013
www.sportsturfonline.com
