Hitting/Practice Facility nearly completed

By Ashley Morris

April showers bring the perfect time for the opening of the new $1.2 million CCU Hitting/Practice Facility, located on the west side of campus at the corner of University Boulevard and Chanticleer Drive behind Watson Stadium's centerfield wall. The facility will open the week of April 11.

“It will be a top-of-the-line indoor facility for batting practice and infield practice on rainy days for both softball and baseball programs,” says Mark Avant, project manager.

The 17,424-square-foot Hitting/Practice Facility will accommodate 150 players/coaches. Batting cages (made by Aalco Manufacturing Co. out of St. Louis) have the potential to be divided into 12 sections. The net systems can then be electronically lifted to the ceiling by an electronic touch pad. XT turf, a mixture of silica sand and ambient rubber produced by FieldTurf, covers every square inch of the building. Boundary lines and base lines are drawn, and home plate, pitcher mounds for baseball and softball, and infield bases are able to be inserted and removed for live play.

Avant says the crew is finishing up exterior work to the landscaping and sidewalks and fine-tuning the interior, with hopes to open by early April. The original targeted opening date was delayed due to problems with the steel framing and the roofing supplier, which shipped the wrong roof panel. “A new roof had to be reordered and shipped,” says Avant.

ESPNU, scheduled to be on campus Saturday, April 2, to televise the baseball game versus Liberty at 4 p.m., did a short segment of the new Hitting/Practice Facility that day.