Turf: Better great than never

It took months for them to practice what will be a faster game, but several members of Grafton High School’s softball team enjoyed their first time on the new turf infield at John Long Middle School on Tuesday.

Some of the players had experience on the new surface when they served as coaches at last week’s youth clinic, and some already played games on it with their club team.

Tuesday, however, was the first time the team got together this season. The turf was installed in spring and was ready for play early in the season, but the school closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic took effect the day the Black Hawks were to start practice in March.

Now, the Hawks got to see what could have been on their new field.

The turf, infielders said, causes grounders to travel much faster than on grass.

Junior shortstop Ivana Micic has played on turf fields in club ball, but not this one.

“The ball doesn’t die,” Micic said. “It’s completely different defensively. You need to be crisp.”

“The ball takes a lot more bounces,” junior first baseman Julia Marti said, “and you have to react a lot quicker. You have to think on your feet more.”

Freshmen Avery Smith and Reese Konczal have played on the field with the Stingers and instantly noticed the difference from wet spring weather.

On a natural field, Smith said, “the ball just stops on dirt.”

Turf, Konczal said, is “way more bouncy.”

Micic noticed that as well during hitting and fielding drills.

“They can be tricky, but they’re smooth,” she said of the hops on the new turf. “You get some interesting hops on this, too.”

Hitting is a little different as well.

“You don’t sink in at the plate,” Micic said.

Smith appreciates not fixing the batter’s box to her liking after opponents or teammates have meddled with the occasional mud.

“You don’t have to flatten it out,” she said.

First-year coach Mike Bergmann texted daily photos of the field’s progress to his team to build the anticipation and keep his players connected. Now that he gets to coach a team on it, he is thrilled.

“To hear the excitement of the high school girls,” he said, is his favorite part.

Bergmann said likes the flatness and predictability of the turf field.

“The condition of it is fantastic,” he said. “You know what kind of bounces you’re going to get.”

But he knows the grounders travel faster.

“Our infielders have to be on their toes,” he said.

The field also helps prevent rescheduling due to wet conditions. It could rain all day, and as long as it stops around 4 p.m., he said, teams will be able to play.

Field conditions aside, the Hawks were just glad to be playing softball together.

“Refreshing,” Micic said.

The WIAA allowed spring sports teams to have 30 contact days starting July 1.

The turf project, which included the infield of the nearby baseball field, cost $510,000 and is being paid for with the school district’s fund balance account, essentially a savings account for unexpected expenses and opportunities. The turf is part of the district’s athletic fields master plan.

Midwest Sport and Turf Systems, based in Plainfield, Ill., did the work, which includes new backstops and new fencing around the dugouts.

Another piece of the project is replacing the junior varsity baseball field at the high school. The spring season was scheduled to be its last. It will be replaced with a field next to the Woodview Elementary School parking lot.

That brings the cost of the baseball and softball project to $800,000.