FIELD OF THE YEAR COLLEGE BASEBALL
SportsField Management ( SFM ): Congratulations on winning the College Baseball Field of the Year award for Williams-Reilly Field at Lupton Stadium . What are you most proud of with this field , and this win ? Andrew Siegel : Our people . It is as simple as that . As a sports turf manager , I want to hire employees who want my job . When I arrived at TCU , the goal was to hire assistants that wanted to move up , and one of the best ways to do that is by caring for a baseball field every day . Lupton gives us a little bit of everything : skin management , turf management , common areas to care for , a rigorous schedule , personnel management and all the weather one can handle . I was able to bring Trevor Austin in as my first assistant and he laid the foundation for what was expected on a daily basis . I never once had to worry or stress about any issues we may have . He ran our crew and game-day students without hiccups . He interviewed and brought in Chris Humphrey as our baseball field tech starting December of ‘ 21 . Trevor left us during the season in 2022 and is now the sports turf manager at LSU . Chris and Lalo Cardoza did not miss a beat , and carried us to the end of the season . They are the engine that makes this operation run . Chris was promoted to assistant sports turf manager , while Lalo was promoted to baseball field technician . Their ownership and dedication are what won this award for TCU . Those two individuals pushed us through the summer schedule with more than 100 tournament games in addition to four youth camps . I cannot say enough about their dedication and work ethic .
SFM : What were the biggest challenges you have faced with Williams-Reilly Field , and how have you approached those challenges ? Siegel : The single biggest challenge we face is the amount of traffic we have on the baseball diamond . We have players and former players that are ramping up for spring training show up at the beginning of January . We have skill instruction followed by team practices then the college baseball season , which lasts through May or the beginning of June if you are lucky enough to host the postseason . The field is scheduled for a showcase tournament the weekend of super regionals , but that can be bumped if we host that weekend . If we don ’ t , we are full bore into summer ball . That includes four youth camps for four days each . Each weekend in June and July are booked with showcase tournaments that are four to five days each with upwards of five games per day . We also host select teams to practice on the field in the evenings when we don ’ t have tournaments .
The rigorous schedule really impacts when we are able to perform cultural practices . Last summer we had five to six days ( total ) when we had nothing on the field for an entire day . We were also saddled with a drought that lasted the majority of the summer . We did not lose a single event due to rain . Our plan was fairly simple – as soon as we knew we were finished with TCU ’ s season , begin transition . The morning after regionals , we verticut , scalped and began aerfication . We pushed bermuda growth when we could , and did any cultural practices when we had a chance . In order to save time , we laid synthetic turf on the mound and plate for the summer . Upon completion of our last event in August , we used every day we could to make ourselves a bit better . We had two weeks until we hosted an elite camp and needed it dialed in . We also were blessed to finally get a good soaking rain for a few days . When camp was finished , we moved into fall ball and skill instruction . We have pushed the field to the limit and will continue to do so . We try to be creative with our time management while working with the staff to have the field ready .
SFM : You won the 2021 College Football Field of the Year for Moncrief Field at Amon Carter Stadium , and the 2021 College Soccer Field of the Year for Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Field . What is different with this win ?
34 SportsField Management | March 2023 sportsfieldmanagementonline . com