New High Tech Baseball Field, First of its Kind

The Motz Group began installation of a Triple Play™ HP synthetic turf baseball system Wednesday at The Summit Country Day School’s Athletic Complex. Coverage of the entire infield with this improved high-performance artificial grass and advanced underlayment system makes the baseball field the first of its kind.

Dan Veil (near) and Gary Phillips (far)

“This is the only baseball field like this, not just in the country but the world,” says Zach Burns of The Motz Group. “What’s unique about the system that The Summit is putting in is the system components that are being installed for baseball play. The components have already been used on some other fields, but not for baseball.”

An acrylic coated, non-elastic infill called Envirofill is the key component of the system because it provides a more realistic playing surface for baseball play than traditional rubber infilled systems. The infill looks like brown sand, replacing the larger black pellets used in other kinds of turf. “The non-elastic infill will result in truer ball bounces and speeds that closely resemble a high performance natural turf field. The infill has the added benefit of providing cooler surface temperatures,” says Burns.

“It is the turf technology used on this field that is new and different than what you see on older turf baseball fields and the entire infield will be covered,” says Greg Dennis, The Summit’s Athletic Director. “The major difference from playing on grass or a partially turfed field is that when everybody else would call a rain-out due to poor field conditions, we’ll still be able to play on our field.”
That would have helped last year in a major playoff game when The Summit’s top-seeded baseball team lost on an opponent’s field, Dennis said. “Last year, our team earned the right to play on their own field but because of Mother Nature, we had to go on the road. If we’d had artificial turf, that doesn’t mean we would have won that game, but we would have had the home-field advantage.”
Dennis credited the school’s Buildings and Grounds Committee for seeing the need for the artificial turf and parents for supporting the project. The project is being funded predominantly through fund-raising efforts.

Located in Cincinnati, and serving students from age 2 through grade 12, The Summit Country Day School combines a strong, values-oriented Catholic education with the academic excellence of a top-tier independent school. The baseball field is visible from Interstate 71 south of Red Bank Road at The Summit’s Athletic Complex on Ehrling Road.

The Motz Group is an athletic field construction company that designs and installs world-class synthetic and natural turf playing systems all over the globe. The Cincinnati company specializes in professional, collegiate and high school athletics as well as parks and recreation.

Original article can be found HERE

For additional photos and video click HERE (flickr) and/or HERE (youtube).

For more information please contact:
Zach Burns, Sales and Marketing Director
The Motz Group
513-533-6452
info@themotzgroup.com