Pirates’ diamond getting face-lift

Construction crews are tearing up the field where many memorable

moments unfolded for the Orange Coast College baseball team in its

run to the state final four just a few months ago.

Mounds of chocolate-colored dirt and dump trucks occupy much of

the space where players slammed home runs and made sliding grabs not

too long ago.

But while OCC enjoyed one of its most successful seasons last

spring, the field and surrounding facility continued to deteriorate,

prompting what Coach John Altobelli called a “long-overdue”

renovation.

“We’ve always tried to get things done with the field,” said

Altobelli, who completed his 13th season last spring. “It’s been

there so long and you can only put band-aids on it for so long.

“We’re on the field five days [of the week] in the fall, six days

in the spring. The field gets used and abused.”

Plans call for: enlarging dugouts by a third or half of their old

dimensions, adding two bullpens to the existing two along Coast’s

first-base dugout side, creating a soft-toss area along the

left-field line and installing a new backstop with netting, ala

Anteater Ballpark at UC Irvine, Altobelli said.

Cinder blocks will form the base where the backstop netting will

rise, offering spectators a more pleasurable viewing experience than

they had in prior years with wide poles that held a chain-link fence.

On the field, bermuda grass will replace the kikuyu of the former

surface and a new type of dirt -- with more granules will replace the

brick dust Altobelli said turned into powder with repeated uses --

will aid in drainage on the infield. The type of bermuda is the same

kind used at Dodger Stadium, which Altobelli said will make for a

smoother surface.

“It will be like a fairway on a golf course,” Altobelli said.

The same goes for the infield.

On the prior surface, dirt was often poured to fill holes and then

watered down. Over time the dirt would accumulate, resulting in an

uneven surface, Athletic Director Barbara Bond said.

“The infield was a foot higher than the outfield, which is a real

safety issue,” Bond said. “The existing dugouts were way too small.

Our team and the visiting teams couldn’t sit in them.”

A similar dirt rising, or crown, also formed on the school’s

football field before an artificial surface was added before last

season.

Money from Measure C, a $370-million bond taxpayers passed in

2002, is paying for the renovation, which began when crews descended

on the field July 5.

If all goes according to schedule, Coast could begin practicing on

the field as early as mid-September.

The Pirates are playing the final two weeks of intra-squad

scrimmages at Costa Mesa High before breaking for the rest of the

summer.

Players will field ground balls on either the soccer or football

fields once fall practice begins to allow the grass time to grow on

their field, Altobelli said.

Once it’s done, Altobelli anticipates nothing but positives with

the new facility, which he said community teams could rent as well.

“We finally have a project that is outstanding for the athletes.”