In the Centennial - I enjoyed going to Gettysburg - the view beyond LF is the battlefield. Of course when it comes to spending money, Johns Hopkins field certainly is nice albeit a very short RF/LF porch (if you're a dead pull hitter). My son says he enjoyed Washington College atmosphere with the dorms along the in OF fence keeping everyone "entertained" while grilling, drinking, etc.
Hamilton has a new turf field (2016) and turf indoor practice facility (2018) with cages (setup with HitTrax) that are pretty sweet.
https://athletics.hamilton.edu...oad_baseball_complex
https://athletics.hamilton.edu...or_practice_facility
Colby College's baseball complex opened in 2015-16 making Colby the first college in NESCAC to feature synthetic turf fields for baseball and softball.
https://www.gocolbymules.com/f...es/baseball-softball*
*the use of "harbinger" in describing athletic facilities has got to be a first, even for a NESCAC school!!
I'm mostly familiar with some of the D III VA schools I have visited over my son's travel ball the years.
Randolph Macon has a very nice field and fun game atmosphere.
Christopher Newport has a really nice design. The fence used to be very weathered but still a very nice place to play.
Mary Washington had a nice small stadium feel to it.
Hamden-Sydney was a very nice field and small stadium feel.
Washington and Lee was top notch as well.
I'm not sure if any of these schools had indoor facilities that would be nice to have in the Virginia Spring climate. But they were all really nice places to play or watch a game. Most of the Virginia D III schools have very nice fields for the fans and players. We are probably very lucky compared to many locations.
BishopLeftiesDad posted:
wow that's very nice
I’m at Swarthmore now for parent weekend. A couple things: if you can’t hear what the coach is saying on the video I’ve been told if you use earbuds phones you can hear it. I had trouble on my phone. He’s pretty engaging. The second thing is when the weather is bad some parents watch the game from that lounge. Finally, some times the action on that big deck is more entertaining than the game. I wouldn’t want to be an opposing outfielder.
you get an idea at the 1:45 mark of this video.
smokeminside posted:I’m at Swarthmore now for parent weekend. A couple things: if you can’t hear what the coach is saying on the video I’ve been told if you use earbuds phones you can hear it. I had trouble on my phone. He’s pretty engaging. The second thing is when the weather is bad some parents watch the game from that lounge. Finally, some times the action on that big deck is more entertaining than the game. I wouldn’t want to be an opposing outfielder.
you get an idea at the 1:45 mark of this video.
Interesting. What do you make of the program? Will say the staff hasn’t been particular responsive to emails, my son had communication from pretty much every school he reached out to after Headfirst with the exception of the Swarthmore staff. They pushed their camps but didn’t respond to direct inquiry emails which my son found a little off putting considering how responsive every other school was.
Wechson, sent you a pm.
Wechson posted:BishopLeftiesDad posted:wow that's very nice
This was part of a massive project that included new softball and football stadiums as well.
As others have said, but I will reiterate:
Scranton is a top notch facility....Washington College does have a cool atmosphere with the dorms in the background.
https://www.playmaasa.com/faci...-athletic-facilitiesMominthestands posted:Salisbury University has an amazing facility. Heaters in the dugouts!
https://www.delmarvanow.com/story/sports/2018/02/19/salisbury-university-opens-new-3-8-million-baseball-stadium/349246002/
Randolph-Macon and Johns Hopkins also have great facilities
Turf surface in the northeast is a huge recruiting advantage.
https://www.playmaasa.com/faci...-athletic-facilities
My eldest HATES turf fields. He feels that they dumb down fielding, and gives an advantage to lesser fielders. They also get REALLY hot on hot days. I don't know how they play on them in the south during the day. The fields are regularly 20+ F hotter on the surface than grass.
There is no doubt that they are great for limiting rainouts.
57special posted:My eldest HATES turf fields. He feels that they dumb down fielding, and gives an advantage to lesser fielders. They also get REALLY hot on hot days. I don't know how they play on them in the south during the day. The fields are regularly 20+ F hotter on the surface than grass.
There is no doubt that they are great for limiting rainouts.
And snow as the case may be
old_school posted:57special posted:My eldest HATES turf fields. He feels that they dumb down fielding, and gives an advantage to lesser fielders. They also get REALLY hot on hot days. I don't know how they play on them in the south during the day. The fields are regularly 20+ F hotter on the surface than grass.
There is no doubt that they are great for limiting rainouts.
And snow as the case may be
And you can shovel turf as well. When my son was in college, the football field was turf. On several occasions they shoveled the field, so they could practice outside.
57special posted:My eldest HATES turf fields. He feels that they dumb down fielding, and gives an advantage to lesser fielders. They also get REALLY hot on hot days. I don't know how they play on them in the south during the day. The fields are regularly 20+ F hotter on the surface than grass.
There is no doubt that they are great for limiting rainouts.
No doubt. My 15 yo LOVES turf fields bc the hops are all uniform and predictable. I think the best idea is turf outfield and infield grass; and a real dirt infield
Fast players love turf. Turf provides a consistent stride and makes them faster. I remember the first time my son played in turf. It was 14u. He slide on wet turf from the normal distance. He knocked the middle infielder taking the throw into left field. I had to convince the umpire it’s was inexperience sliding on wet turf or he was getting tossed,
I'm not sure how he feels about it today but a couple of years ago my son wasn't a big fan of turf around the plate. As a catcher, a spiked 90mph fastball can be tough to handle in any conditions but turf doesn't slow it down in the least and you really hope it doesn't hit the edge of the plate. He also said "the ball doesn't feel right" whatever that meant. I assume it has to do with the lack of abrasiveness that would otherwise be present in dirt. On the flip side, an intentionally bounced low throw down to second can be really effective on turf.
Turf is smoking hot in the summer - try standing out there for 6, 7, .. 9, innings with black shoes - at least players get to go in the dugouts if they can make the outs... Still while nice to have for inclement weather - if the field doubles for other rectangular sports, the multitude of lines and perhaps really deep alleys make balls in the gaps a challenge. Endicott is one such example. Tough to play baseball in March/April on the North Shore of MA, but their field is in high demand.
And then there's the health risks, especially if the crumbs are made of ground up tires, and not a safer substance.
Millikin University just built a 5.5 million dollar facility. A friend of my son just went there for a showcase and couldn’t stop talking about how nice it was.