After two different teams in its conference built brand new press boxes, the Baker University softball team decided the pop-up tent and tarp they were using was becoming a little too shabby.
“We felt it was way past due for some field upgrades,” head coach Matt Windle said. “Facility wise, we’re just trying to compete with everyone else and make our field more appealing.”
Fully equipped with electricity, the recently renovated press box at Cavaness Field will be big enough to house a statitician, scoreboard operater, media personnel and their equipment during the games. There will also be a side room available for hosting VIP guests such as the school president, recruits and umpires.
The funding for the new press box came from both anonymous donations and team fundraising. The team was able to earn most of their money during a golf tournament they hosted last spring.
Raising money is the least of the contributions members of the softball team have made to upgrading their field, though. They have also put in many hours of hard work of building and maintenance to get their field to look as appealing as they would like it to.
For fifth year senior pitcher Brittany Vollenweider, who has seen many changes at Cavaness Field since she arrived in 2007, the past few weekends have consisted solely of long days of working on the field and press box. She doesn’t mind the time committment, though, as she thinks the reconstruction of Cavaness will only boost her team’s morale.
“Because we’ve had to put in a bunch of time working on the field and making it look good, I think our team will take that pride and run with it this year,” Vollenweider said. “I think it will also show our success from where we started. You can see the growth of our program through our taking steps and putting in the time to make our field better.”
Windle agrees that the upgrades to Cavaness Field and the hard work the team has provided thus far will aid in the success of the team come springtime when their season starts.
In the long run, Windle is hoping the team will also be able to redo the dugouts, upgrade the field’s batting cage area and reconstruct the outfield.
