The Bearden softball team is set to start a new season: this time, lacking a home field.
Bearden’s softball field is under construction, fulfilling a plan to update the program’s complex.
Since the Bearden field is not usable for the season, the team has had to adjust to the lack of a practice and game field. They have done so through traveling to Bearden Middle School’s softball field for practices and then mostly opposing teams’ fields for games.
“It’s been really inconvenient because upperclassmen, we can drive,” senior Rylee Sieber said. “But because underclassmen don’t have the privilege of driving yet, it’s been difficult to organize how we get to practice, when we get warmed up, and what time we’re going to start.”
The Lady Bulldogs opened the season with a 10-0 run-rule win over The King’s Academy on Tuesday. They next play at Carter on March 14.
As opposed to walking through the senior lot and down the hill to practices, players now have to travel to practices at Bearden Middle. Additionally, all the softball team’s home games are being played at Nicholas Ball Park near the corner of Ball Camp and Middlebrook.
This has added a level of adversity to the team’s hopes for the season as they are not able to have a “home field advantage” or home practice field of any sort.
“I would say it’s definitely difficult because we don’t have the support of having a home field and just being comfortable on your own field,” senior Lauren Spainhower said.
Though this construction makes practicing and playing games more difficult for the team, next season’s team will be able to use a brand new facility for their practices and games. This new facility will be an upgrade from the previous complex and will feature a new concessions stand, restrooms, a new locker room, and a press box.
Seniors should not park in the spots facing the fence near the football field until the construction has been completed. These spots are currently blocked off with signs and cones.
The team is hoping to overcome this roadblock and still have a successful season.
Spainhower is signed to pitch at Gardner-Webb next year, and Allie Serritt signed to play at Walters State Community College. They’ll also rely heavily on the veteran Sieber, who has been a varsity pitcher since her freshman year.
“Our goals are to take advantage of what we do have given our circumstances because we don’t have a home field and we’re playing all of our games away which is obviously tough because you want to have a home field advantage,” Sieber said. “So the seniors especially are trying just to make the most of a lot of hardship.”