More than two decades later, Bayfield High School finally can play ball at BHS.
Starting Saturday, the BHS baseball team will play its games on campus for the first time in 21 years.
The Wolverines will face Aztec at 11 a.m. Saturday, but this game on this field has been a long time coming.
A varsity baseball field originally was planned when the high school was built in 1994, but it was removed from the plan because of budgetary concerns.
The Wolverines previously played on an all-dirt infield at Bayfield Middle School before the new field’s construction, which suited them fine.
That is, until the new field came along.
“I love every bit of (the new field). It’s really nice,” said BHS senior pitcher Matthew Knickerbocker, son of Kirk an Marie Knickerbocker. “The dirt looks perfect, the grass is really nice. We’re thankful to have it, that’s for sure.”
They can thank their fellow citizens in Bayfield for approving a bond measure in November 2012 to pay for the new field, a new auxiliary gym and the new auditorium at the high school.
After the bond was approved, the Bayfield school board selected Durango architecture firm RMBA Architects to design the space, which began design work around the first of the year in 2013.
“We made the area around it user-friendly for pull-up chairs. The outfield is set almost into like a hillside, so we put grass and stuff up there so people can lay out and watch the games,” said Todd Funkhouser, a partner and architectural designer at RMBA. “We wanted it all close together so they could have a track meet going on and a baseball tournament all at the same time.”
Construction began in August 2013 and wrapped up in June 2014.
The field originally was scheduled to open last season, but delays pushed the opening back a year.
The wait was worth it for the Wolverines.
“It’s been a long process. We were really excited to play on it last year but found out in the middle of the winter that it wasn’t going to happen – little bummed about that,” BHS head coach Jonathon Qualls said. “But they did it right. They took the extra time and made sure it was right before they let us play on it.”
FCI Constructors, Inc., a Colorado corporation with five regional offices, including one in Durango, served as the general manager/general contractor for all three construction projects.
The baseball field cost roughly $1.3 million to build, Funkhouser said. That includes the field, dugouts, scoreboard, press box and storage shed/concession stand. There also are batting cages attached to both dugouts.
“We still wanted to be frugal with the bond money that the community approved,” first-year BHS athletic director Rob Dean said. “We’re not going out there to get a Lamborghini model. We have a great facility that matches any other high school facility for the money we’ve spent.”
In between the lines, the biggest improvement is the addition of grass to the infield and improvement of the infield dirt and outfield grass from the field at the middle school.
“It’s awesome. It’s way better than what we’re used to,” said BHS junior third baseman Zane Phelps, son of Dion and Koel Phelps. “(The long grass) makes (fielding) a little more difficult because you always have to charge it or read how hard it comes off the bat.”
The new field also will provide behind-the-scenes improvements to the Wolverines’ program.
Now BHS has two fields it can use for practice or if there are varsity and junior varsity games scheduled for the same time.
If weather becomes an issue, the team quickly can move to the new auxiliary gym and practice inside.
Practicing and playing at the high school also brings the baseball players closer to the athletic trainer and they can receive treatment easier. Access was limited when BHS played at the middle school.
Beyond the dirt and grass improvements, the Wolverines also enjoy a psychological benefit from playing at the high school.
“I know we’re going to have a lot more people at our games because there will probably be a track meet there, or people will say ‘there’s a game at the high school, let’s go,’” Knickerbocker said. “We know that, so we’re going to have a little more incentive to try harder to go out and win. We just want to win every game we play here.”
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
If you go
Who: Aztec at Bayfield
What: high school baseball
When: 11 a.m. Saturday
Where: Bayfield High School
