Veterans Field at Keeter Stadium was the recipient of a new DuraEdge infield this past spring.  Why is this significant?  Veterans Field, in Shelby, NC, is the home to the American Legion World Series which wrapped up this past month.  Recently, we caught up with Leif Hamrick, owner of Foothills Sportsturf, Inc.  Leif was hired to improve the playing conditions of Veterans Field.  And that’s where this story begins…

An Interview with Leif Hamrick:

I was brought on by the American Legion World Series board.  We are concluding our second season now.  In year one, our main priority was improving the turfgrass.  We were able to vastly improve that through a fertilization program and using growth regulators.  By the end of the first season, it was shifting the focus to now fixing the infield.  

I go to the national SFMA conference each year and I’ve always known about DuraEdge.  I’ve spoken with Patrick Coakley from DuraEdge for the past couple of years at our regional SFMA conference in Myrtle Beach.  I really wanted to get DuraEdge in there, but I wanted to do my due diligence in investigating what our best option was.  So, I spoke to my friend, Tommy Walston, who now is the Sports Turf Manager at East Carolina University.  He’s someone I look up to and I asked him what his suggestion was.  Without hesitation he replied, “get DuraEdge.”  He said everyone will be happy.  The coaches and players will be very happy with it.

So, at this time last year, we had a meeting.  We needed to get some truckloads of material.  I threw it out there.  I at least wanted us to entertain a top-level product.  We made some calls to see if we could get someone out here from DuraEdge.  I connected with Patrick and shortly afterwards, Luke Yoder came out, brought some samples and took some measurements and elevations.  He offered us two quotes within our range.  One was for a 1” cap and the other for a 2” cap, and went over the three infield mix options: Classic, Collegiate, and Professional.  We ended up choosing to go with Collegiate.  The next step was bringing it to our board.  I knew whatever was possible was going to be a game changer for us.  By December, we received approval and to be honest, I was shocked.  It really reinforced everything that they told me from the beginning about their commitment to making Veterans Field the best possible playing surface we could achieve.

I knew we had to get on this quickly, as most good installers’ schedules fill up very quickly.  I called a couple and got with Nolan Thomas and Company, Inc. (a Homefield Authorized Installer).  He really wanted this project and we ended up meeting up in Daytona at the national SFMA conference to talk more about it.  We hammered out the details, he rearranged his schedule a bit, and everything was a go.  We also connected with DuraEdge on the logistics end to coordinate the 125 tons of DuraEdge Collegiate infield mix being delivered.  Nolan came in with his equipment and in eight to ten days he did his work and left us with a beautiful new DuraEdge infield skin along with Blackstick mounds and home plate areas, topdressed with Platinum calcined clay. 

We were comfortable with the conditions and compaction level right after Nolan Thomas left.  Shelby High School was the first to play on it within a couple days of finishing the project.  Coach Chris Emery has been around baseball for a long time and couldn’t have been happier.  They were having teams calling to see if they could play at their field while they were using 5-gallon buckets and pumps to try and get water off their fields after a rain event, while our field was ready to play on.  He’s lived that in the past himself and knows how much better the situation is with this infield.

During the summer, American Legion Post 82 played on the field and made it pretty deep in the playoffs, but didn’t end up making it further.  So, we had about a one month period in between their season and the American Legion World Series.  The turf and DuraEdge were ready to go.  We really didn’t have to do much at all to get things ready.  I had Nolan scheduled for a day to come out before the World Series in July, but of course thunderstorms had different plans with his tight schedule, so we weren’t able to get anything done.  The good thing was it really didn’t need it, so we rolled into games without the touch up.

The World Series starts in mid-August and is 15 games total.  Our first rain event occurred and we were on the field trying to make decisions about what the best thing to do was.  I was on the field with the American Legion World Series tournament director and the Cleveland County Emergency Management Director who is our direct line with the National Weather Service in Greenville.  It was supposed to rain for about twenty minutes, so we decided to not pull tarp as that’s nothing for DuraEdge.  The cell ended up sitting over us for an hour to an hour and a half, dumping about 1.5” of rain.  It honestly kept the field hydrated, and I was watering between games.

The first night, we were into the 8th inning, and they came to me asking when we’re going to be able to get back on after the rain.  I said we’d be back within two hours if not before.  Everyone sat back and shook their heads as they watched the water go into the soil.  People are looking at a lake on the field and by the time they turn back, it was almost gone.  By 10:15 p.m. we threw down some Platinum and had the coaches and infielders walk on it.  Then we were back at it.  It ended up being the longest game in history, going 16 innings.  

The next night, a deluge blossomed on top of us, and they said, why don’t we play tomorrow as the boys were tired.  Do you think we’ll be able to play by 11 a.m.  I said, absolutely.  The oldest guy just looked at me, stunned.  We didn’t even have to touch it and could have played at 9 a.m.  The same guy, Gary, came up to me after field prep and said, I’ll be honest with you, I would’ve given you a plug nickel if we played at 11 a.m.  We hadn’t nailed.  We hadn’t put out more calcined.  No labor was expended.  After another rain event, we were questioned about why we didn’t tarp and once again were back to playing within two hours.  That’s why we got DuraEdge.  If that was a traditional infield, those games would not have been played.

We are proud to be a part of the rich tradition of the American Legion World Series.  Getting in more games and providing a safer and more playable infield is what DuraEdge can do for you.  Regardless of the level of play or budget, we have solutions for your infield.