Upper Arlington High School Baseball and Softball Field
Project Overview
Upper Arlington was looking to bring a new baseball and softball field onto their campus. As the district was building a new high school and redesigning its campus, a new baseball and softball facility was included as part of the master plan. At the time athletes and the community had baseball and softball events off-campus. By consolidating everything into a centralized location Upper Arlington hoped to bring the community together and create a space for Upper Arlington pride for their athletes and district.
As a trusted partner with the district for over a decade, Motz was chosen as the partner for Upper Arlington’s turf baseball and softball fields. Motz also assisted in the design of the drainage, stone profile, synthetic turf TriplePlay system, installation of Safeshell warning track, and natural sod outfield for both fields.
The two baseball and softball fields consist of a combination of natural grass and synthetic turf. TriplePlay was used for the infield of the baseball and softball infields and the outfield was natural grass. The warning track on both fields utilizes a synthetic turf system installed with Safeshell, a 100% natural turf infill.
The main point of using Safeshell in the warning track system is to create a true warning track experience. A player will know by the sound and feel that they are approaching the edge of the field with Motz Safeshell infill as part of the warning track.
The Situation
Upper Arlington was looking to bring a baseball and softball facility to campus. With the construction of the new campus came the desire to include softball and baseball fields. Upper Arlington had to remove one of the school buildings to create these new fields. The Motz Group partnered with the district and the General Contractor to meet a challenging winter build schedule with construction phases occurring simultaneously across the campus. Motz demonstrated the importance of a reliable and responsive field construction team by meeting the opening date and resolving challenging infrastructure issues.
The Play
To create this new baseball and softball field for the Upper Arlington district, a school building was taken down on a plot of land to create Upper Arlington‘s vision of on-campus baseball and softball fields.
The Motz team began their part of the project after being given a prepared subgrade.
The in-house expertise of synthetic and natural turf field-building allowed Motz to work in unison with the General Contractor and district to deliver a first-class facility despite the challenges of a winter build in central Ohio.
The biggest challenge was completing the natural grass outfield installation in time to allow for a growth period. Motz developed a creative approach to navigate the winter weather to create a high-performing baseball field for the Upper Arlington district and meet its opening game deadline.
Motz designed the drainage, stone profile, a TriplePlay turf system, and installed a Safeshell warning track system and a natural sod outfield for both baseball fields. Additional services included custom-made batters boxes, pitching mound replacement pieces, and custom on-deck circles.
We chose Motz due to our previous successful partnership and relationship with them. Motz can meet demanding timelines and provides high-quality and reliable service. We have been very pleased with our investment, the durability and the ease of maintaining our fields installed by their professional team.
The Win
Performance: High-quality performance fields are a goal with every field construction project. Motz provided the tools and products Upper Arlington needed for their two baseball fields to be safe, low-maintenance, and durable. In addition, a specialized warning track system with Safeshell was installed.
Game On Ready: The construction began in October 2021. Many winter-related weather issues impacted the original plan of all construction members involved. Motz took the initiative to build a schedule that would help the different construction teams unite to meet the deadline of this project – Upper Arlington’s opening game on March 1st.
Relationship and Partnership: Motz was chosen due to their relationship with the district and work with Upper Arlington in the past. Upper Arlington selected Motz again for field construction projects for their district and community based on the quality of work, long-lasting field playability, and customer service.
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