Northwest Notes

Coeur d’Alene High football

announces practice dates

The Coeur d’Alene High football team will begin practices on Monday at 8 a.m. for sophomores, juniors and seniors.

Freshmen will report for practice on Aug. 14 at 7 a.m.

Information: Coach Shawn Amos at [email protected].

Bailey-Brayton Field to

get new AstroTurf

PULLMAN — Washington State’s Bailey-Brayton Field, home of the Cougar Baseball program, will have a new playing surface for the 2018 season, WSU athletic director Bill Moos announced.

Bailey-Brayton Field will receive AstroTurf’s state-of-the-art Diamond Series playing surface, replacing the FieldTurf that was installed in 2004. The infield FieldTurf was replaced in 2013. Installation is underway and is scheduled to be completed later this month.

“The addition of the new AstroTurf will provide a first-class playing surface and is the initial step in our facility enhancement plan at Bailey-Brayton Field,” Moos said. “When the new surface is in place, we will turn our attention to finalizing a date to begin construction on the baseball clubhouse, which will provide our student-athletes and coaches one of the finest baseball facilities on the West Coast.”

“We are very excited that Bill Moos and WSU Athletics have made the decision to add new turf for the first phase of the renovations for our baseball program,” WSU baseball coach Marty Lees said. “Steve Webb of Coast to Coast Turf is overseeing the installation who is a former Coug who played on this field so we know we are in great hands! We are looking forward to playing on one of the country’s premiere playing surfaces at Bailey-Brayton Field.”

For this synthetic turf system, the infield “grass” portion of the field is comprised of a combination of advanced fibers that mimic the look, feel, and playability of natural grass. Base paths, warning tracks, and batter’s box all feature a proprietary fiber blend of shorter pile height that accurately emulates clay. All of the elements of the playing surface have been engineered for optimal ball bounce, ball roll, underfoot feel, and durability for the specific part of the baseball diamond in which they are installed. A special feature called the RootZone acts like a net to encapsulate the sand and rubber and to reduce its splash for more natural hops.

This AstroTurf is used at approximately 80 percent of all Division I synthetic baseball fields including Ohio State, Vanderbilt, Michigan and Oklahoma.