True Baseball Fields

[allthingsplanes]

I have a really random question.  My son played t-ball last fall and is going to play baseball this year.  I've noticed that all of the fields around this area are shared for softball and baseball.  They have the all-dirt infield and no true mound (they bring in a fake mound for baseball).  Furthermore, they don't really have many small fields for the younger children - my 9 year old daughter played softball and the "outfielders" played at the edge of the infield dirt.

Growing up in Oklahoma and living in Texas, my experience was always that there were both softball and what I consider to be "true" baseball fields - those with grass infields and a pitchers mound.  Furthermore, even in my small rural town of 15,000, we had fields for each age level.  And for softball I've seen a lot of times where on a large field they install a temporary orange fence at a shorter distance in the outfield.

I've been looking at satellite view and it seems like outside of middle/high schools and professional fields, there are very few baseball-only fields in North Carolina.  Does anyone know why this is the case?  Is baseball not taken as seriously here even though we have a lot of farm teams?  

[cjd5050]

5 hours ago, allthingsplanes said:

I have a really random question.  My son played t-ball last fall and is going to play baseball this year.  I've noticed that all of the fields around this area are shared for softball and baseball.  They have the all-dirt infield and no true mound (they bring in a fake mound for baseball).  Furthermore, they don't really have many small fields for the younger children - my 9 year old daughter played softball and the "outfielders" played at the edge of the infield dirt.

Growing up in Oklahoma and living in Texas, my experience was always that there were both softball and what I consider to be "true" baseball fields - those with grass infields and a pitchers mound.  Furthermore, even in my small rural town of 15,000, we had fields for each age level.  And for softball I've seen a lot of times where on a large field they install a temporary orange fence at a shorter distance in the outfield.

I've been looking at satellite view and it seems like outside of middle/high schools and professional fields, there are very few baseball-only fields in North Carolina.  Does anyone know why this is the case?  Is baseball not taken as seriously here even though we have a lot of farm teams?  

Where in Charlotte are you?  

Matthews has an 11 diamond complex that includes both 60/90 baseball and 60 softball.  Then there are several elementary and middle schools with a mix of 60/90.  

 

[allthingsplanes]

This is great info.  I hadn't seen the Matthews info - that's something I might check out further! 

I'm in Harrisburg and there really aren't any of these facilities for Cabarrus County.  They're all shared baseball/softball fields.

Any other areas around that have a similar facility as Matthews?

[cjd5050]

2 minutes ago, allthingsplanes said:

This is great info.  I hadn't seen the Matthews info - that's something I might check out further! 

I'm in Harrisburg and there really aren't any of these facilities for Cabarrus County.  They're all shared baseball/softball fields.

Any other areas around that have a similar facility as Matthews?

I would assume the 1st ring towns would have similar facilities.  Not sure if they have residency requirements however.  I'd start by finding the right league.  One that fits your goals.

[InSouthPark]

Really? All the ball fields in South Charlotte (at least most of the ones we played out) had specific fields.  I would say however that there would typically only be 2 or less fields with grass infield (usually reserved for 12U+). All those ones here are baseball or softball specific though with proper mounds. Out "home" field at Olde Providence Elementary had 9 fields, all specific use fields (T-ball, softball, dirt infield baseball, grass infield, etc).  Same with Carmel Middle, Jack Hughes, Randolph park, MARA fields, and other places we would play at.

[allthingsplanes]

22 hours ago, InSouthPark said:

Really? All the ball fields in South Charlotte (at least most of the ones we played out) had specific fields.  I would say however that there would typically only be 2 or less fields with grass infield (usually reserved for 12U+). All those ones here are baseball or softball specific though with proper mounds. Out "home" field at Olde Providence Elementary had 9 fields, all specific use fields (T-ball, softball, dirt infield baseball, grass infield, etc).  Same with Carmel Middle, Jack Hughes, Randolph park, MARA fields, and other places we would play at.

This is good to know.  I was going off of the areas around where I've lived.  For instance:

• Stallings Road / Harrisburg Elementary - 8 total fields , all dirt infield
• Rocky River elementary - 7 total fields, all dirt infield
• WW Flowe Park - 4 all dirt infield fields, 2 smaller
• Frank Liske Park - 4 all dirt infields
• Mallard Creek Community Park - 4 all dirt infields

I do see now a couple of grass infields in Huntersville and at Freedom Park so my initial premise is different.  They're not non-existent.  I just wish more areas had what they have in Matthews - particularly up here in Cabarrus County!!

[InSouthPark]

You would think the more rural areas in Cabarrus would have more fields since there is typically more room. Good luck. I am sure you can find the right league with a little searching.