SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/54529
Facility&Operations rubber track ASV skid steer and discarded. The existing soil is lightly tilled with a tow- behind Aerovater, breaking up the hard compacted soil and getting the dirt at a consistent mixture. Then 25 yards of Asto- ria Sandstone is added to bring the infield level up since almost 1 inch of 3,000 square feet of sod was removed. Then laser grading begins with a slight fall to 2nd and a ½% cone from the mound. Finally, two tons of Turface MVP are added, nail dragged in, and leveled. This year's tournament featured a new look for the infield skin portion. By meas- uring every 4 feet down each baseline and the opposite grass edge area of a conven- tional 60-foot base infield, a string was strung out and, with the use of a Scotts drop spreader, Turface's new infield condi- tioner (Pro League Heritage Red) was spread in straight lines. Pulling the drop spreaders backwards allows for the product to come out faster and uniform. With prac- tice, the application was done faster and more precisely. Softball needs to have a white line to in- dicate the 8-foot radius where the pitcher can receive the ball. After the pitch the run- ners have to immediately return or advance to the next base. Inside the circle was com- pletely filled in with a couple of passes of the drop spreader. The patterns were laid out so that they had a continuous appear- ance all the way around. The tartan pattern was originally done for the opening cere- monies and only after the acceptance from the tournament director, Bob Hudlow, and ESPN 2 was it decided to repeat the pattern for the championship game. The Champi- onship game went on without a hitch and the patterns easily made it through the 6- inning contest. After the tournament is over the sprin- kler heads are located. Then the infield is quickly regraded for a grass infield. Seeding was done in both directions with a Lesco slice seeder. The fixed spinning blades of the slicer act as a power planer and shave any high dirt and gradually smoothes the loose dirt over the seed. Since the seeding or sodding of grass will raise the height of the infield, the grading of the grass portion of the infield is lowered ¾ of an inch to prevent starting with a lip. Grass lines are established by running a gas edger backwards to create a clean groove in the dirt. Using a landscape rake the in- side of the groove is shaved down, allowing the grass to grow even with the infield dirt. This year the baselines were seeded as well to try to limit the maintenance for the un- predictable fall Oregon rain. With tarps for both the mound and homeplate available and the infield graded with a slight slope to the back edge of the infield, rains can effec- tively be managed. A starter fertilizer is applied with a broadcast spreader in both directions to give uniform coverage. A light raking can help spread out heavy or light seeded areas. Then grass straw mulch is applied at 100 lbs per 1000 square feet with a screen roller, much like a peat moss spreader. A light wa- tering before the straw mulch is applied will help with the mulch to stick to the soil and not be so dusty. The grass straw mulch helps to hold moisture in as well as give the newly seeded infield a tint of green. After a couple of weeks the sun bleaches out the color and the newly planted grass seed starts to emerge from the soil. Since a higher percentage of grass seed falls into the cut grass line edges they are more pro- nounced. If the ground is firm enough a quick light mowing with a push reel mower cuts the first shoot of grass blades allowing it to tiller more quickly and fill in. After a month another application of fertilizer will boost the top growth of the grass. With fre- quent watering and mowing the infield is ready in 4-6 weeks for the fall Little League baseball program. ■ Mike Hebrard is the owner of Athletic Field Design, Clackamas, OR, www.athletic field.com. 34 SportsTurf | February 2012 www.sportsturfonline.com