This year’s baseball season has been eventful as the boys baseball team is looking to stay focused outside the field being fixed. There have been many changes and distractions, but the team and coaches look to achieve their goals for this season
Even though the field is expected to be ready later than expected, the coaches haven’t let this affect the team’s focus. They have taken the approach of working hard every single day to get ready for the season.
“You know, unfortunately, it’s it. It didn’t get done on time, but a huge message that I and the rest of my coaches conveyed to the program is that we only focus on what we can control, you know. Going forward, we’re going to, you know, respond to what’s been given to us,” said varsity coach Eric Lopez.
As a coach, Lopez is looking to keep on learning as a coach and adapt to anything that is thrown his way. Every new season not only brings new memories but more experience as a coach. This year he is looking to build on this by getting the most out of each player and elevate the team as well.
“It’s a huge learning experience for me, obviously. Year one was a huge learning experience, and then in year two, I’m coming in with a sense of how things work. At the end of the day, you never stop learning. I would say that my favorite memory last year was game three against Antioch. They beat us up pretty good for games one and two. We went to their field on their senior day, and we beat them like eleven to two. So we did what I knew we were capable of doing. And I think that was a great sign of growth, showing these guys what they’re capable of,” Lopez said.
The new field has not only affected just the coaches and team for this season, it has affected the athletic department and directors as well. The idea of renovating the field has been talked about for awhile as many meetings have occurred already.
“We have been working closely with our maintenance department to find a solution to the drainage issues on our varsity baseball field. This has involved many meetings and constant conversations throughout the past year,” said athletic director Tina Woolard.
The main obstacle since the field hasn’t been finished yet is finding out where the home games will be played. But thanks to the assistance of the College of Lake County and Grayslake Park District, the fields that will be used for home games have been figured out.
“We are fortunate to have assistance and partnerships with the College of Lake County and the Grayslake Park District. Coordinating with different groups along with scheduling busing and communicating the changes with officials and opponents has added many layers to normal scheduling,” Woolard said.
Seniors are disappointed about the field not being available for their senior season, but they look to make the most out of playing and practicing on whatever field they are on. The team is just overall looking to get the best out of the situation up until the home field is finished being built.
“I think we’re doing the best we can in the fieldhouse and just going to the back 40 whenever it’s nice enough, and I believe that the baseball program is doing well enough by bonding with each other and just doing what they can,” said Senior Tyler Kregel.
The players are also hoping that the new field is as good as other fields they have played on. They are hoping to get all the problems fixed with the old field. One of the main problems being the field was built on a flat surface.
“The baseball field right now. where it’s at, it’s built on a sort of low level plateau and that causes a lot of rain to not drain and causes a lot of puddles and water to be out on the field. So what we did to fix that was we completely renovated the whole field so we drained all the water out and we put in a whole new drainage system,” Kregel said.
