(REFURBISHING OF COASTAL BASEBALL PARK) By Carter Cromwell
The Pecos League began a new season on June 20, and the opening took place at a ballpark that had a new atmosphere.
Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the league has taken five of its Eastern Division teams, condensed the season into two months and is playing all the games at the Coastal Baseball Park in Houston. And anyone familiar with the facility could be forgiven for not recognizing it right off the bat.
The ballpark has undergone a major makeover over the last several months, including:
It was a three-month project and involved a ton of labor, said Andrew Dunn, the Pecos League commissioner and owner of the facility. In the current environment, there is no other park in which we can play no other place to go.
Dunn purchased the land from Freeway Baptist Church and opened the ballpark in 2007. The facility is situated on 17 acres in the most southern portion of the City of Houston/Harris County. The property has two fields, which enables the league to play more games in a day and, thus, condense its season into a shorter time frame.
Coastal Baseball Park hosted its first game in May 2008. Originally, the park featured an artificial mound, but this was replaced 2009 with one of clay. The design was for artificial turf on the infield and a natural-grass outfield that needed little maintenance. The turf on the original infield was from the University of Arkansas football practice field in Little Rock.
We've replaced that now with the turf from Baylor University’s football field, Dunn said.
Coastal's second field opened for the 2010 season and has the old Cincinnati Reds’ MLB outfield fence. The field was resurfaced in 2014.
We have one of the few Batter's Eyes in the Houston area, Dunn said. This gives hitters great visibility.
Dimensions of the main field are 323’ (left field), 409’ (center field) and 307’ (right field). In addition to the Pecos League, numerous Houston Area teams from the Continental League (2009) and Hudson River League (2018) have used the facility. Several Houston Astros players used the facility to film their sponsorship ad campaigns.
This year’s refurbishing was not the first for the ballpark. Coastal Park has had many major upgrades previously, including installation of a clay mound that meets major-league specifications, brick dugouts, a brick backstop, addition of speakers, addition of brick walkways and batting cage.
The 'new' ballpark is hosting the Trinidad (CO) Triggers, Santa Fe (NM) Fuego, Roswell (NM) Invaders, Tucson (AZ) Saguaros and Salina (KS) Stockade. Except for off days on Tuesdays, there will be games each day until near the end of August.
'We really needed to get going and play,' Dunn said, 'and we made sure the ballpark was ready.'
Coastal Baseball Park was the site of the experimental 62.5 foot mound in 2019 Pecos Spring League.
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