Improvements begin at Marble Falls’ Scearce Field

Stadium improvements at Marble Falls High School’s Scearce Softball Field have begun taking shape.

Workers have installed pipes for what will be the bullpen for the visitors dugout, removed fencing to install new netting that keeps fans safe from foul balls, and have the cabinets for helmets ready to be put in the dugouts. The fence will extend from one dugout to the other.

Head coach Alex Lozoya said the Lady Mustangs are liking the improvements.

“There’s better ball protection and better visibility area,” he said.

Other improvements will include new paint on the backstops, handrails, ticket booth, helmet racks and scoreboard supports and install new backstop pads.

Perhaps the most significant improvement is inside the home dugout itself. Lozoya pointed out that Scearce Field is at the bottom of a hill. So when rain comes, it rolls down the hill and into that side of the facility, making the dugout slippery. For safety measures, dirt is put inside the dugout.

But officials are addressing that, too, in the next phase.

One request Lozoya had was to remove the four poles in front of the covered bleachers that are under the press box. But those poles are part of the main support for the press box, so they must remain.

These improvements are part of what officials are calling phase one. Cost is $136,658, which came from the 2018 bond. The Marble Falls Independent School District Board of Trustees approved the work and payment during the May 19 regular meeting. The projected date of finishing is early fall.

The next phase includes installing artificial turf and putting turf inside the home dugout. Projected date of completion is “before the start of next season.” The money for the project is coming from the May 2025 bond that voters passed.

“We want to make sure the transitions are as seamless as possible,” Lozoya said.

The improvements are coming at a good time. When Lozoya took over at the start of the 2022-23 school year, the program had 12 players on the varsity.

The program is projecting to have around 40 players in grades 9-12 for the 2026 season.

“Seventeen or 18 new faces will be in the program,” he said. “We’re excited about the growth, especially with the freshmen that I’ve been getting to know.”

But he and staff members must reconfigure the space in the clubhouse. When it was built in the mid 2000s, it had avarsity and a junior varsity locker room with a coach’s office and laundry facility. As interest in the program shrunk, coaching staffs turned the junior varsity locker room into an office where officials could change before and after games, players could meet with coaches one on one, create storage and other program needs.

But with that many athletes expected to join the program in 2026, it will have a junior varsity and a varsity during the season. And each player will need a locker.

“We’re going to finish up getting the other locker room ready,” Lozoya said.