St. Mary's High School Baseball

10 Things That Make St. Mary’s Extra Special

Wall of Names
More than 200 bricks, each bearing phrases or names of their contributors, are united to partially form the backstop behind home plate. The wall is Ram tough, but it makes one teary-eyed to think of the supporters bonded like mortar to the baseball program.

Stadium Seating
Up to 450 fans can enjoy perhaps the best views of any high school game simply because you won’t find any chain-linked fencing between you and the diamond. A 25-foot by 120-foot black net behind the backstop provides fans with the optimum view of the classic plays at the plate. Only the umpire has a better view (we think!).

Team Dinners and Picnics
Like clockwork, Moms and Dads join the team every Thursday evening after practice to provide a terrific meal. Not only are large appetites satisfied with home cooking or BBQs, but also the camaraderie among players and parents is strengthened into an unbreakable bond.

The Scoreboard
How many high school scoreboards have a piece of Fenway Park to proudly boast team runs throughout a game. The numbers, placed manually, are exact replicas in size to the ones situated near the Green Monster. An impressive steel structure frames the Rams’ scoreboard, making it picture-perfect.

The Infield
Outlining the crisply cut grass is perhaps the best quality infield dirt that money can buy. If it’s good enough for the San Francisco Giants, it’s good enough for the Rams. When Delta Bluegrass replaces infield dirt at AT&T Park twice a year, it generously provides the old clay and cinder mix a new home at the Thompson Sports Complex.

New Message Board
Arriving in March, the new message board will be an instant hit with fans and players. The 2-foot by 9-foot board shows batter information that’s easy on the eyes. Advertisers will also have a shot at reaching fans with messages for all to see.

Bermuda Grass
A John Deere tractor provides manager Peter Pijl the chance to design patterns on the Bermuda grass to produce a major-league feel to the park. Pijl is partial to the look at Yankee Stadium, which never changes its sunburst rays emitting from home plate. Pijl mows the infield grass twice weekly with a greens trimmer so infield hits aren’t slowed by tall grass found at most fields.

Sprague Family Fieldhouse
Perhaps the most-coveted item in the complex by visiting teams, the fieldhouse provides the Rams with practice rain or shine. The 10,000 square-foot complex now has a pair of 70-foot retractable hitting tunnels, indoor pitching mounds, 24 wood lockers for varsity players and heating/air conditioning. Can anyone say, “Team sleepover?”

Entryway
The snack bar area has a new look as 400 square-feet of new brick pavers gives the complex a pristine look for the 2007 season. Once again, parents and volunteers accomplish an unthinkable task that would have been a $15,000 expense without them. Visitors know they’re in a unique place even before they set foot inside the stadium.

Dad’s club
Players’ dads now have the opportunity to meet the first Tuesday of each month to discuss team issues, needs and wants. Last season’s excessive rains provided right field with an abundance of water so the dads laid a new 250-foot drainage line along the warning track. Add that to the new 170 square-foot infield tarp and St. Mary’s can now host “away games” that would have been postponed/cancelled due to opponents’ field conditions.