Valley Stream fields a go for spring

March 26 was the first home game of the season for the Central High School girls’ softball team. That morning, village groundskeepers had to dig through several inches of frozen dirt at Firemen’s Field to get the bases in.

It was just one of many challenges workers in the Valley Stream Parks Department faced after a winter that featured frequent snowstorms and up-and-down temperatures. Among their many responsibilities, parks employees must get the fields in tip-top shape for the numerous high school and youth sports teams that use them.

“We had to do things differently this year,” said Parks Supervisor Lorraine Werbeck. “We just tried to do whatever we could as the snow continued to melt.”

In the spring, Firemen’s Field hosts the Valley Stream Central High School baseball and softball teams, as well as the district’s varsity lacrosse teams. In the south end of the village at Barrett Park, South High School’s junior high baseball team uses a field.

Additionally, the Little League, Baseball League and Soccer Club will all begin play soon, using these parks for some of their games.

The fields were covered by snow for much of the winter, meaning the Parks Department couldn’t get any preparation work done. As the snow started to melt, workers hit any areas they could. Werbeck said there was a brief window every day to work on the baseball diamonds — in the morning, the ground was frozen and in the afternoon, it was too soft from the thaw.

As baseball season approached and the high school practices began, there was still six inches of snow on the fields, forcing the teams to work out in Central’s gymnasiums. Werbeck said that, fortunately, the temperatures soon rose high enough that her staff didn’t have to plow the snow from the fields, but they still had a lot of other work to do.

Every year, the workers turn over about a foot and a half of clay and dirt on the baseball and softball fields, smooth out the edges of the grass and laid down fresh seed. Last fall, fresh sod was put down at the main baseball field at Firemen’s, but it only recently adhered to the ground because of the harsh weather, noted Dennis Winter, one of two full-time groundskeepers.