It’s been two years since McDaniel was remodeled. It’s also been two years since our baseball and softball teams have been able to play on our home field. Ever since the new field was built, there has been a problem: the fence. 

Since the fence has not been fixed, it has really affected my baseball career and most of the baseball players that played last season too. This is because we had to play at a relocated field, and we didn’t get the aspect of a home field.  The remodeled field also has limited softball players from playing at home too. This has forced them to relocate to another field and not get that aspect of having a home field, which is known to help the home team because more of their fans are there to support. This affected their season last year as well. 

The reason why the field is not suitable for game play is because the right field is too short. This can ultimately give lefties on my team–and the opposing team–an easier way to hit a home run. Another problem with the field is that there is a light pole on the field. So if an outfielder is going for a fly ball, they could run into the light pole. 

This  has made it so I have to play at Glenhaven Park for JV, and varsity has to play at Sckavone Stadium. Glenhaven and Sckavone are both dirt fields making it difficult for me to play on them in the rainy weather that Portland gets. Sometimes we wouldn’t get to play, or it would get relocated to another field. 

Softball games also have to be played at Delta Park, also a dirt field. This meant that cancellation of games was an issue all throughout the program. 

  During my baseball season last year, JV only played 13 games despite being scheduled for 24. Varsity softball had six games canceled because of the rain. If baseball got the chance to play on our home field, none of the games would be canceled because the field is turf. Varsity baseball had almost all of their home games scheduled to play at Sckavone or moved over to the visitor field because of the rain. Most of the varsity baseball games were not played on their designated field.  

During the 2022 season, it was very depressing playing away from our school and on dirt for most of the season. You’re not really able to feel the support you get from home fans while playing your sport. Softball players that I have talked to also feel the same way and want to have that home field experience.

Whenever I talk to someone about the baseball season, they always ask, “Why can’t you play on the field?”, and I feel like it has to be explained. To fix the field, there needs to be a construction project of putting the net up so that the fence isn’t too short. They also need to remove the light poles inside the field so that people don’t run into them. 

There is a way to fix the fence, it just simply hasn’t happened. Hopefully, this year, baseball and softball will be able to finally play on their home field. If not, my next hope is that we will be able to play on turf fields so that there will be more games being played and more playing time for me and the baseball and softball team.