Bats crack as balls glide through the air while the Texas High baseball team practices on unfamiliar turf, long awaiting their field renovation.
At the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year, the Texas High baseball field underwent construction to replace the dirt fields with turf. With hopes that the fields will be done by March 2, 2026, the team practices at Spring Lake Park to ensure no practice time is lost.
“We have been practicing at Swanger [Sports Complex] this spring, [and] the players are transported each day by bus,” head coach John McClure said. “It has not affected our practices at all. The players have handled everything very well.”
With Spring Lake Park open for players to practice, the construction workers are able to get the field done at a rapid pace.
“It’s a trade. [Baseball] used our indoor for tryouts,” athletic director Gerry Stanford said. “Work crews are working around the clock with the lights on, as weather permits.”
Planning out practice times and information proves crucial to ensure that their routine stays consistent.
“As a coach, we just have to make sure our practice time is maximized,” McClure said. “[This includes] coordinating bus departure, drop-off times and the equipment we will need each day for practice.”
Many players agree that practicing at Spring Lake Park has its advantages.
“Practicing at Spring Lake Park has rarely affected practice time,” senior Caden Criner said. “Spring Lake Park has turf, and we want to get used to playing on the surface.”
The boys shift into the new routine with ease due to their eagerness to play and improve their skills.
“We have to [ride] the bus down to the baseball [field], get dressed very fast [and] make sure we are taking it seriously,” senior Zabre Turner said. “[Since] we don’t have our own field, we can’t waste time.”
The desire to play on the new fields lingers through the air, but they remain waiting patiently.
“We still go through our regular time practices as in previous years,” Criner said. “I’ll say the only disadvantage is us not being able to play on the new field yet like we want to.”
With the field under construction and all preseason games away, the timing of the renovations act as a drawback to some players.
“Not having a home field is kind of unfortunate [and] having no home games is not great,” Turner said. “I don’t think it’s a disadvantage, but I don’t like playing all away games.”
