Best fields in Iowa?

[mtdew_fever]

There are a ton of nice baseball fields in the state either based on top quality or . Any of them unique or worth the drive to go and see?

Top Quality
- SE Polk (Altoona/Runnells) - a ton of money was thrown at this field and it shows. Unreal and better than some college fields.
- Dowling Catholic (WDM) - outstanding field. Other than the constant hum of the Interstate, it's tough to beat.

- Carroll HS - the city field is one of the top in the state and is kept up by a lot of volunteer hours. It was actually the host to the 2A and 3A state tournament for several years.

Small Schools
- North Union (In Bancroft) - legendary home of the Saint John's Johnnies.
- Spalding Catholic (Granville) - another Catholic team with a huge history of winning a ton of games and nice looking field.
- BCLUW (field in Beaman) - the field is actually lower than stands, has black dirt base paths and has a great hitters backdrop (corn field back drop in LF and solid trees in CF and RF).
This post was edited on 4/29 2:02 PM by mtdew_fever

 

[maxstabs13]

I bet BCLUW sucks to maintain when it has been a monsoon for the past month. I liked that field a lot also. It was a shorter field from what I recall.

Waterloo West has a pretty nice/well maintain field.

 

[hawkeyepower100]

Just some Western Iowa fields Treynor, Avoca which is only 2-3 years old, and Coon Rapids. All 3 are very nice Avoca being newest prolly the nicest. Coons did win field of the year some years ago.

 

[SLUNI25]

Gotta throw Storm Lake High/ Buena Vista University's home field in the discussion. First fully turfed infield in the state of Iowa when it was put in along with a completely re- done outfield. Not to mention a great amount of seating provided for the fans.

 

[meandmyshadow]

Solon has a manicured field...

West Delaware is pretty nice as well.
This post was edited on 5/3 3:42 PM by meandmyshadow

 

[MVCR]

North Scott and CR Kennedy are a couple of my favorite places.. Linn-Mar is opening a large new complex this year so that will probably be very impressive. Also I saw a game at muscatine once and I love their set up there with the wood fencing and the huge stands

 

[j6694]

North Polk has a nice set-up. And I always liked when we played at West Marshall cause their field was so nice to play on.

 

[eyecy]

Originally posted by mtdew_fever:


Top Quality
- SE Polk (Altoona/Runnells) -
- Dowling Catholic (WDM) - outstanding field. Other than the constant hum of the Interstate, it's tough to beat.

- Carroll HS - the city field is one of the top in the state and is kept up by a lot of volunteer hours. It was actually the host to the 2A and 3A state tournament for several years.

Small Schools
- North Union (In Bancroft) - legendary home of the Saint John's Johnnies.
- Spalding Catholic (Granville) - another Catholic team with a huge history of winning a ton of games and nice looking field.
- BCLUW (field in Beaman) - the field is actually lower than stands, has black dirt base paths and has a great hitters backdrop (corn field back drop in LF and solid trees in CF and RF).
This post was edited on 4/29 2:02 PM by mtdew_fever

The first ones that came to mind was Dowling Catholic's and Carroll's. The old-school wooden press box adds to the charm at Dowling's field and the backdrop of the grass hill is also nice. I think the hum of the I-235 traffic actually adds to the atmosphere.

I have heard great reviews of Carroll's field from everyone even though I have never played or watched a game there. I haven't seen Southeast Polk's new diamond but its old diamond was worse than some of the Little League diamonds I have played on. Great to see they improved their baseball diamond 1000%.

As far as some of the smaller schools, I know with Spalding Catholic and a lot of other very-small Catholic schools that baseball is pretty much the only sport they offer, so they take very good care of their baseball diamonds.

 

[SEPRamFan]

SEP's field had a very impressive face lift a couple years ago. Here's a few pictures:

This post was edited on 5/3 2:15 PM by SEPRamFan

More SEP Baseball Field Pictures

 

[maxstabs13]

Originally posted by MVCR:
North Scott and CR Kennedy are a couple of my favorite places.. Linn-Mar is opening a large new complex this year so that will probably be very impressive. Also I saw a game at muscatine once and I love their set up there with the wood fencing and the huge stands

I live in Eldridge now. I have to say I think the field is average. The setup of the bleachers is good, the field itself is well maintained in the infield, the outfield is average, the setup of everything else is average. Comparing it to Waterloo West is the closest I can think of. NS has better bleacher setup, but as a player I would take Waterloo West easily, because the field feels and looks better.

 

[terrehawk]

Great topic.

One of the best infields in the state at any level has to be West Marshall. The facility itself isn't anything special and is small but the playing surface is phenominal.


There are lots of nice looking fields around and u have seen a lot of them, but none play as well as WMs infield.
Posted from Rivals Mobile

 

[7321FB]

Nothing comes close to Carroll Stadium in Western Iowa. I've played in some big games there and it's a rush. Other than the state tournament, it was my favorite place to play in high school.

 

[maxstabs13]

Solon has a mini-monster down the left field line. Correct?

I remember watching a game there. It is a very nice complex as is everything in Solon.

 

[Saints85]

Can you put a pic of the WM field up? Never been there. Thanks.

 

[maxstabs13]

This is what I found...

West Marshall Field

 

[maxstabs13]

I really like the setup of this field. The only issue is as an outfielder you can lose the ball in the air between the background of brown brick building and the clear sky, but you have enough time to find it and recover if you lose the track on the ball.

Waterloo West Field

 

[maxstabs13]

Here are some photos that I found.

North Scott Field

 

[MVCR]

Waterloo West is very average for the MVC IMO.. I would put Kennedy, City West, Xavier, and I assume LMs new place ahead of it.. I would say its even with Wash, City High, and Prairie. I love NS because of their stands and dugouts, I would say the field itself is probably just above average.

 

[PNation]

Of fields that I have been to Carroll is the best, there is a reason why it hosted state for a while

One that hasn't been mentioned yet is Williamsburg, they did a great job with there new field

 

[Thegipper]

1. Carroll Stadiium
2. SEP
3. Dodger Stadium - Fort Dodge

 

[IAHawkeyeBaseball]

Dodger Stadium (Fort Dodge) feels like your at wrigley field watching the cubs, but they have horrible seating. Other than that, they have a great facility. Southeast Polk has a great field and it is fun to play on.

This post was edited on 5/7 2:27 PM by IAHawkeyeBaseball

 

[Topps6]

Coon Rapids Bayard has one of the best. Very well taken care of.

 

[urgone]

4A: South East Polk, Marshalltown, CR Kennedy
3A: Carroll, Storm Lake
2A Alta, North Polk
1A Coon Rapids, Treynor

 

[GoHawks2009]

I'll second Dodger Stadium and throw in Harlan Rogers. While HR is a bit more of the generic look compared to Dodger, it makes up for it in seating.

Before they built those mini-major fields there used to be corn fields along the left field fence. I think that HR also has one of the bigger overall fields around the state.

The turf just doesn't get the same treatment that the softball fields do....