Kings Park High School baseball field gets fixes

A rocky, weed-strewn baseball field at Kings Park High School has been spruced up by local volunteers.

New fences, sod, sprinklers and a concrete dugout floor are being added to the school’s junior varsity ballfield. Kings Park Youth, a community group that runs local sports programs, donated more than $20,000 and recruited more than a dozen volunteers for the project.
Work began Sept. 17 and is expected to be completed by the end of the month. The sod should take root in time for baseball season next spring.

“The field will be a model baseball diamond so that our JV baseball team can have a pristine baseball field that all of us in Kings Park can be proud of,” Kings Park Youth president Darryl Valinchus said.

The infield had become virtually unplayable due to cuts to the school district’s budget for field maintenance, the community group said in a news release. “The JV team elected to practice on the grass in the outfield,” trustee John McQuaid said.

Volunteers will work with school employees to maintain the field, he said.

Above: Kings Park High School