Three groups in St. Clairsville are coming together this spring to rectify one of the few athletic wrongs found within the city.
The city’s Recreation Department, along with the school district and junior sports organization are leveraging their combined dollars, along with a recent $11,000 donation from Pirates Charities, to do some major improvements to the St. Clairsville Junior Sports Complex.
One field in particular, Field 4; the formerly Bronco field now turned softball field for the upper age groups in the town’s recreational league.
In short—it needs some work.
When it rains, a miniature lake forms around the entirety of the outer ring of the infield. The playing surface itself has a noticeable dip in elevation as the field progresses from dirt to grass at the lip of the outfield.
There are potholes, fencing issues, additional drainage issues, and dugouts that, while usable, could benefit from expansion.
That’s the bad. What Field 4 also features is a lot of potential. There is a large, level parking lot with plenty of paces. The adjacent hill, while the culprit of many of the water issues on the playing surface, also provides a grass-laden hillside from which to sit and watch a game.
There’s plenty of space and plenty of potential and that’s what recreation director Eric Gay, his department, and representatives from the school district and Jr. Sports hope to leverage.
“Our goal with this project, and I’m speaking on behalf of a couple of different groups, is to put up new fencing, new dugouts, redo the infield and level it out.,” Gay began, noting that no, they are not getting turf.
“We’re going to make that the best field out there and we’re hoping to put it all together and get started soon. We’re collaborating and doing this all together. We’re making this the facility we all want, but also one we can afford.”
Yes, the list of softball teams in Eastern Ohio with turf facilities is growing. Schools of comparable size like Edison, Indian Creek, and Harrison Central all feature turf facilities.
That’s not happening here, but the upgrades Gay speaks of will go a long way to turning this field from serviceable and borderline usable, into an enviable facility comparable to others within the town and district.
The Plan
The Lady Red Devils currently play up the road at Field No. 4, the varsity field. In recent years, the current high school team’s home received an updated scoreboard. But parking is a nightmare for parents and opposing teams’ bus drivers.
Seating isn’t ideal either, but compared to Field 4, the Bronco Field, it’s downright immaculate.
Field 4 is not in use this spring for games. Tackling the drainage issue is Job No. 1 and is already in process.
“It’s something we’ve already started on out there,” Gay said. “That’s the first thing we needed to do is divert the water from getting onto the field. So far, we’ve seen a difference.
“We’re not playing any games down there right now but it is being used as a practice field every evening.”
Once all the work is done, Field 4 will become the new home for the Lady Red Devils, while the current varsity field will still be utilized by junior sports teams.
This has been on Gay’s radar since he took the position of Recreation Director.
“When I took the job, one of the first things I did was look into how we could upgrade the fields out there, and that one in particular.
“One of the really neat things about this project is you have three different organizations working to make these improvements and all three will be utilizing this facility. The rec department wants to get bigger into the baseball/softball scene, and possibly do some fall ball-type things.
“And the Jr. Sports organization, I can’t say enough about them. It’s a volunteer organization and they have kept up with the fields ever since its inception in the mid-1980s. I can’t thank them enough for everything they do.”
The plan received a boost recently when Pirates Charities announced the project received an $11,000 donation.
That’s certainly a nice infusion of green for the project.
“Realistically, we are hoping to dump about $80,000-$90,000 total into the project,” Gay admitted, noting that a number of $25,000 was a ballpark figure for the three organizations involved in the project to invest.
“(Athletics Director) Justin Clifford and I are very close friends and the city and school district have such a good relationship, we all want to keep working toward the same goal here—giving the people that live in the town, the kids, the coaches, the best facilities we can. We owe that to the kids and the adults who put in so much time over there.”
The result will be a new, upgraded facility for both the high school and Jr. Sports teams; one they will be proud to call home.
