The Amboy High School baseball team’s diamond is getting a new look, thanks to donors and volunteers.
The Amboy City Park diamond, where the Amboy High School baseball team practices and plays home games, received a new look with a layer of sod that will become a grass infield.
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“Baseball fields should have grass infields,” said Cade Sharp, head coach of the AHS varsity baseball Clippers.
Sharp and a group of his players and one Amboy Junior High School student took advantage of a day off school on Oct. 22, due to parent-teacher conferences, to lay around 7,000 square feet of sod in the infield.
The project had been on hold because of weather, and Sharp said his players were eager to get going.
“I didn’t have to offer them anything. I didn’t have to beg them to help. I was trying to keep the project quiet so it would be a surprise, but word got out, and they were asking me every day when we were going to do this,” he said.
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An AHS alumnus donated funds for the project.
“We had a very, very unique opportunity where an alumnus donated money to our program to have sod installed on the infield. It was a generous donation, and we are incredibly grateful,” Sharp said.
Another AHS alumnus and his son, who currently is a student at Amboy High School, took care of the dirt work.
“James Bulfer and his son, Bristol Bulfer, were super generous with the landscaping to get the area ready for the sod. We didn’t ask them for it; they did it out of the kindness of their hearts, and we cannot thank them enough,” Sharp said.
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Sharp said the cost of the project was around $14,000 to $15,000.
Around 11 players showed up early, and that number increased as the project went on.
“They bought in as soon as I told them about it. They’ve been asking for this too,” Sharp said.
Students were unrolling the sod as others placed the sod in a staggered pattern on the infield.
“They are quick learners, and they are just out there getting it done,” Sharp said. His father, Tom Sharp, from Aledo, made the trip to Amboy to lend a hand with the project.
Sharp teaches physical education at Amboy High School and is the head varsity boys’ baseball coach, a position he has held for three years.
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He takes care of the baseball field with help from the Amboy city maintenance crew.
“The city mows it and rolls it with their big roller. They are really great, and they are right there to do whatever I ask,” Sharp said.
Sharp said the sod will be watered every day and tended while it establishes roots. Before the season begins in March, Sharp will start getting the field ready for practices and games.
“During my lunch break and prep period, in the spring, I am down here chalking the field, lining the field, getting the field ready to go. I wouldn’t change it. I grew up doing that with my dad, and he taught me how to do it. I love it. I love baseball, I love everything about it,” Sharp said.
The dirt that was removed from the infield will be used to build up the pitcher’s mound and other areas. Sharp said his next project will be to repair the roofs on the dugouts at the field.
