The softball team practiced on their new turf fields for the first time on Jan.23. The fields began constructed at the beginning of school. These developments have brought something for the team and fans to look forward to.

“I’m looking forward to the new teammates, new coach, and new field,” sophomore Heather Atkinson said.

With a better field and improved seating to watch the games, the players are expecting more fans to come and support.

“We are anticipating a large and rowdy crowd,” junior Kaylie Pool said. “This new stadium and bleachers will hopefully bring new audiences to our games. We hope to start a student section, so all y’all eagle fans come out and cheer.”

The team try-outs were held on the new turf, allowing the students to acclimate to the alternate surface.

“Now that the fields are ready,” freshman Kaley Allen said, “we’ve been able to practice on them and prepare for game-like situations and run through our special plays.”

The new fields will bring more hosting opportunities for the Lady Eagles.

“The new fields will give us an advantage,” senior Ashton Tarwater said.”I feel like we might know how to handle the turf much better than our opponents. We dive with more confidence and slide with greater speed. With practice, I believe this will give us the upper hand.”

While the fields were being constructed on, the softball team practiced on the football field.

“In the off-season we were able to adjust to how the ball hops on turf,” Atkinson said, “and how sliding will be different without actually having our fields yet.”

Turf fields are much more durable than grass. They can be used during harsh weather, whereas playing on a grass field in the rain can ruin the field for the rest of the season.

“We don’t have to worry about getting rained out,” Allen said. “We can still play on the rain in the turf, which is a blessing.”

Another advantage of turf is that softballs don’t bounce on the turf.

“Balls never have bad bounces,” Atkinson said, “and balls die when they hit the turf instead of rolling a lot like they would on grass or dirt.”

The softball team enjoys playing on the new field.

“We are so pumped to play on our new field,” Pool said, “This field will just push us even harder to prove we deserve such a nice field.”