This past year has brought waves of changes to the Windsor campus—from the new high school auditorium to classrooms in the intermediate center–the school as a whole has changed. One thing that Windsor has never had before, however, made its varsity debut in late March. The beautiful new all turf baseball field is a game changer for the Windsor baseball and softball teams. 

It is believed to be the only one like it throughout Missouri public high schools, the field features turf in the infield and outfield. Two years ago over the summer, as a community project, freshmen summer classes picked up rocks from the old softball field for two hours.  With the long awaited new field, rocks are a problem of the past.

Coach Jeff Young said, “No more dragging the field, lining the basepaths, (or) cutting the grass. All of this used to take about an hour to get done before every game and could be longer if we had to put down product to dry out the field after a rain. Now we just add some rubber pellets to the mound, batters box and warm-up mounds after the game. Ten minutes worth of work, tops.”

Despite the ease in maintenance, a staple in many ball player’s diet will be regulated on the new field. Sunflower seeds are not permitted on the new field.

The issue with this is where the shell goes after the seed is eaten. Typically, a player or coach will spit out the shell and onto the field, but with the turf, the shell can’t break down. It would make sense to use a handy-dandy vacuum cleaner in this situation, right? However, because of the layer of small rubber pellets used to make-up the turf part of the field, a vacuum would suck up the pellets and ruin the field. So, to properly clean the seed shells left on the ground, someone would have to pick up each shell by hand.

To solve this problem, signs have been posted in the dugouts telling seed eaters to please toss shells into cups or bottles to keep the field nice.

During the inaugural varsity game in late March, sophomore Derek Williams hit the first varsity home run of the season. Shortly after his hit, the resident bald eagle made an appearance, swooping from the trees and over the Central Office building before disappearing for the rest of the evening. The home run could be the first of many for Williams at Windsor.

“It felt good, all the hard work paid off and it was really enjoyable,” Williams said

He isn’t the only student who has been enjoying the new addition. Before the onsite field, students had to take a five minute ride to Rock Memorial field near Kimmswick. The field sits in a bowl, so rain outs were a common occurrence.

Now, students can take a 5 minute walk up to the on campus field and watch afternoon games.

The dugouts themselves are also very nice, which contains bat holders and helmet racks. There is a shelf behind the bench for storing equipment and they are completely sealed in as to decrease chill and rain from getting in.

With this new turf field, it may be hard for the teams to enjoy playing anywhere else. They have, in a sense, become spoiled.

“It’s very easy to become spoiled when you have the best high school baseball field in the midwest. Especially when your last field was the worst in the county,” Young said.