Parents lead way for Oak Mountain field upgrades

The Oak Mountain High School baseball and softball fields had a fresh look for the 2020 season.

Both the baseball and softball programs have had solid leadership in the two decades the school has been around, so the fields and facilities have been maintained well. However, late last summer, parents from both programs came up with a plan to spruce things up.

“A couple softball parents and a couple baseball parents sat down and talked about some plans for doing new backstops for each field,” Oak Mountain baseball coach Derek Irons said.

Between the two programs, roughly $60,000 was raised, primarily by supportive parents in addition to the help of a few local businesses.

Thus, down came the chain link fences that served as the backstops on those fields. Up went a blue rubber padded backstop that extends from dugout to dugout. Netting was also added where the fence once stood behind home plate, extending higher and further down the baselines than the fence did.

“I really felt like it would change the look of the field and make it look 10 times better,” Eagles softball coach Kaitlin Griffin said. “Parents got behind it, and they really pushed it.”

Both teams went a little further with the project. The baseball program was able to install a warning track in between the dugouts behind home plate and had the infield laser graded to assist with draining. The softball team got new wordmark windscreens affixed to the dugout railing.

“It was very exciting to see the families in our program and families in the community see that and make it happen for the student-athletes we have now and the ones in the future,” Irons said.

Irons and Griffin agreed that it showed the strength and unity within both programs that so many parents of upperclassmen were behind the project. Despite those students only benefiting from the improvements from a year or two, those parents were willing to invest in something that will reap rewards for many years beyond that.

“I saw a lot of selfless motives to see the program be in a better place. Of course, that somewhat benefits their sons but a lot of other people’s sons as well,” Irons said.

Unfortunately, the 2020 seniors got even less time than they could have anticipated to enjoy the upgraded fields, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Oak Mountain’s baseball team played just four home games, while the softball team played only once at home.

The baseball team finished the year with a 9-4 record, while softball finished 5-5-1.