The realities of Scearce Field
EDITOR’S NOTE: A $172.2 million bond package is being presented to Marble Falls Independent School District voters that has four propositions. One is the construction of an indoor practice facility on the existing Scearce Baseball Field. That facility will give options when it comes to extreme heat and cold. The last day to vote is May 3.
If Marble Falls Independent School District voters say yes to the multipurpose facility that’s on the May 3 ballot, it will be constructed on the current Scearce Baseball Field on the Marble Falls High School campus.
That means a new baseball park would be constructed in the practice fields and throwing pits to the left of the home stands of Mustang Stadium.
Baseball head coach Tyler Porter said the current clubhouse has 20 lockers in the clubhouse. If there’s rain that hasn’t dried out in enough time to play on the natural grass, games are either postponed or cancelled. And if there’s a lot of rain, the clubhouse floods.
The clubhouse has a window unit to keep it cool and it doesn’t have heat. Sometimes the unit gets the job done. Other times, it doesn’t.
Currently the program had 33 players and 17 student athletes dress in the Max Copeland Gym before making their way to the baseball park.
But the new baseball facility will include batting cages, two dugouts that are 360-square-foot each, artificial turf, bleachers for 270, an office that’s 200 square feet, lockers, storage, concession and restrooms.
“Building this new facility will take care of all of our baseball needs,” Porter said. “Getting artificial turf – to say ‘huge’ is an understatement.”
He called himself a “purist” when it comes to his belief that baseball should be played on natural grass. But, he noted, playing on wet natural grass opens the door for tearing up the field without a lot of time for it to recover for the season and injuries. So coaches cancel practices.
“We’ve missed (more than 30) percent of practices,” he said. “Your freshmen need those reps on the field.”
It’s as simple as “developing more kids,” the coach said.
This season the Mustangs had enough players to form at least two teams. Porter likes to have a roster of about 20 on each squad. That ensures the players get a good number of quality innings where they are learning and getting better.
In addition, programs that have artificial grass have been able to host more home games because the opponent’s field has been too wet to play on. In the last two years, the Burnet Bulldogs have hosted at least one game per year they were not expecting to because the field of where they were traveling to wasn’t dry enough for a contest. This season it was against District 24-4A member Taylor. Though the Ducks were the home team for the second game in the series, they had to make that trip twice to Burnet County in the same week.
The Marble Falls ISD Community Advisory Committee made recommendations for a bond package to the school board and presented its report in December. During a special meeting Jan. 27, Dr. Jeff Gasaway, Marble Falls ISD superintendent, summed up what was in the report with some changes as he presented it to the board of trustees.
He also explained how bonds are paid. The State of Texas allows school districts to pay for bonds through the Interest and Sinking (INS) tax rate. But there would not be an increase to Marble Falls ISD households and would remain at the current rate of 21.53 cents, Gasaway said.
