Who has the best HS facility in IL? And, who has the worst? I know of some really good ones but I also have seen many more that are getting worse every year, almost unplayable.
Nazereth has a fine new facility. I like Barrington, but when it comes to a hitting backdrop, there is nothing finer than the new field at nazereth. The field was cut right out of the woods.
the field at Naz was put in by the sox. The cost of the project was picked up by a local landscaping company. I think they had a former Naz player working for them who was suddenly killed. If the story is true, I hope the boys over there are thankful and thoughtful of their gift.
check out the beautiful new infield sod job @ OPRF. A little slow last fall, SHOULD BE MINT IN 04! ......bring your Lewis and Clark mindset if you play OF.The school needs to address this problem immediately.
sox...Why don't you appoint yourself a committee of one and go and talk with the administration and suggest that you could be the "fundraiser" to work on the outfield this spring and next year....especially since your son will be playing there this year and next!
Get an article published about the "plight" of the baseball team and the outfield situation in the "Leaves" (still there?) newspaper and see what kind of positive reaction you get. With the lawns in North Oak Park and in most of River Forest, if you got a few pieces of sod from everyone, your outfield would be like the greens at the Masters.
Tons of money in OPRF...get some of it for the baseball team!
sigh! they even turned down a parent that owns a landscaping company.the admin. only cares about the politics of there own job.one case where you lose out being a pub. school. Fenwick would not let this happen.they cant even get the football people to cooperate.it just gets worse all the time.
Oswego High School has a very nice baseball Facility. It was donated to the school by Ken Pickerell who also takes full care of it. In return he is allowed to play his semi-pro team games at the facility. A Small Price for a facility with lights,complete bathroom's,full size concessions,bleachers,home and visitor batting cages,scoreboard,pressbox the works.It's named Jackies Feild of Dreams, In Memory of Coach Ken Pickerells Wife Jackie.
Oswego does have an excellent facility and did have a guy with a scooter/hotdogstand that was very convenient between innings. Barrington was very nice and I recall Morris having well kept field during drought few years ago.
Have any of you ever played at Crete-Monee in the last year? I feel like we have one of the finest HS fields in all of northern IL. Great concession stand, huge new dugouts, netting around homeplate instead of fencing,new press box, new sound system and new scoreboard. Plus the field is always in excellent playing condition.
Lockport is the nicest on the south side and I really liked Barrington on the North side. THe cool part about Barrington's field is that house in right center with the observation deck. That has to be great for those fans but brutal for opposing right fielders.
Coach Hall has taken the field in Lockport to another level, for years the players had to get dressed away from the field, now the 'barn' has been to turned into a very nice locker room, especially nice for a high school program. With the lights and the top teams in the state coming down to play on Saturday night, I would have a hard time saying that the Porters do not have the nicest facility in the state of Illinois.
Lockport's facility may look nice to the observer, but the playing surface is terrible, the mound has huge holes and the outfield has tons of bumps. I give coach Hall credit for the atmosphere of the park, but JCA, Providence and Andrew all have far nicer fields than Lockport.
we should listen to the players and coaches,especially the most recent graduates of these various facilities. a parent or casual observer has no way of knowing what field conditions really are. locker rooms are a very poor second to a playing field.
Ask the players, LockPorts Infield is one of the worst infields for bad hops. Why Highschools don't water the infields before games i will never know?????
...which leads me back to Crete-Monee. The field is kept in absolutely magnificent playing condition. Coach Cahan spends many, many hours of his own time making sure the field is perfect. Close second goes to Bradly, their field is always in very nice shape.
I appreciate getting some votes for the best field (Lake Park). Our coaches and players work hard to keep it looking nice. Hopefully someday we will get the school to approve a pressbox/storage area. I would then like to enclose the field with a boundary fence, and cut down our 8 foot tall field fence for better viewing. I may be retired by then however.
The two best fields we play on are Barrington and Stevenson. Elk Grove is next to a creek that is a foul ball magnet and Rolling Meadows was average at best. I have not seen what they have done this year but they are extremely limited due to land availability.
i would have to say that the field at joliet catholic is better then the field at lockport..... lockport has way too many bad hops in the infield .... on the other hand they have nice dugouts and a nice layout but at jc there is a brand new score board new foul poles i would say there is hardly ever any bad hops in the infield and the grass is always kept nice and short
I think Reavis did a nice job with Czarnecki Field - once the concession stand is finished it will be really nice. One of my favorite places to watch a game is Argo-Summitt. There is next to no foul territory so you are right next to the players - if you stand down the first base line you feel like you are playing first base.
I think Palatine definitely has the best. We played there a couple of weeks ago in a non-conf. game and we were awed by the facilities. A full field maintenance crew, multiple batting stations on the field, and good dugouts. It was like being on the field of a major league park--almost. However, as much as this helped them...it didnt help them beat LT. So much for all that money, maybe it went down the drain.
I think Benet has the best field with the additions of the knee-high brick wall, cedar fence painted green, the new scoreboard, and the spacious dugouts it makes for a great field to play on and watch from. I also heard a rumor that Benet will be broadcasting their games over the internet from their field, I dont know any other school who does that if you know one please inform me.
The field at Reavis is nice, and it isn't "finished" yet: (there was an article in the Southtown and the AD was talking about it at the Sectionals) Still coming: - lights - wooden outfield fence - locker rooms - indoor plumbing - more bleacher seating - another "hill" along the left field line - the trees along the fencline might be over the fence by next year.
I think that whole conference (SICA North) could make a run for best group of fields -- ** Richards did some work on their field ** Oak Lawn was displaced for the whole season while they did work on theirs. ** Argo is a fun place to watch for some offense. ** Bolingbrook's field is brand new ** Romeoville is in the process of upgrading their field
I would also add Andrew to the list of nice fields.
benet has nice surroundings yet their field is not that great.... the outfield grass isnt in very good shape and when i always played there, there was a big lip on the infeild where it turned to dirt .... yea its nice what they did an the coach is doing a nice job of remodeling it from wha tit was but it still needs some work
I ahven't coached in the ESCC in years, but it is nice to hear Benet has improved some. I always thought it was great surroundings but a horrible field. St. Joe's used to look like they conducted war games on it--is it still that bad? ND used to have an unbelievably nice infield but their outfield was, hands-down, the worst around--there are Chiacgo city parks with better maintained OF's.
Outside of the ESCC, Barrington is unbelievable--their sophomore field is nicer than most varsity fields. Does Hersey still have a nice infield? It used to be awesome. Elk Grove is picturesque, but I would hate to have that gameball bill. Same with Lake Forest--but I doubt they have as much trouble affording it. Didn't Streamwood do an upgrade on both their fields? How did that turn out?
Belleville Althoff plays on a fantastic field. It is called Whitey Herzog Field and is fantastic from both playing and watching the game. BTW, it has a covered seating area with permanent seats. Alton plays at Gordon Moore Park. It is also very nice.
K13 - I agree with the Barrington assessment however I am glad that I don't have to watch games at Elk Grove and Hersey anymore. Maybe because I had too many friends there and it we never really paid much attention to the fields but I wasn't that impressed.
Another interesting thing - My son could have cared less if he played in a cow pasture as long as the team that he was playing was good. The competition had far more importance to him than the field that they played on.
i think that sandburg has a very nice feild along with new trier and obvioulsy stevenson. but also having played on elk groves feild i did not like it and do not give it the credit that it is getting
Palatine, Barington, Prairie Ridge all have great baseball fields. You can always tell the ones where the coaches and the program are always working to improve the fields and the programs.
York's infield will be very nice. It was completely redone this past fall.
Best fields I've coached, seen, or played on:
1. Barrington-Beautiful Park 2. Stevenson-Well Maintained 3. Hinsdale Central-fantastic atmosphere 4. Prairie Ridge-Well maintained 5. Benet-beautiful renovations 6. Brother Rice-Well maintained 7. Nazareth-White Sox did a good job on the park 8. Lake Park-Coach Colluci does a nice job 9. Lockport-Nice off campus field 10. Elk Grove-Well Maintained
Fun Fields:
1. Montini-take aim at the houses in right field 2. Driscoll-Excellent infield (One of the best)but see a single turn into a triple in our outfield 3. LT-those outfield gaps are inviting 4. Stevenson-Short porch all around 5. Hinsdale Central-Same as Stevenson 6. Elk Grove-Same as Stevenson and HC 7. St. Francis-Play the hill in the outfield 8. St. Eds-Never coached a game there where it has been over 30 degrees. Plug your space heater into the golf course outlet. 9. Walther Lutheran-See an "infield fly" leave the yard.
glenbard north has one of the best infields and mounts in its conference, but the backstop needs to be replaced, along with the protective netting against the houses. also the outfield is bad because we have to share it with the gym classes. does anyone have any information of companies who do backstops because I'm looking to approach the board about getting a new one as a project for government class
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