Pinellas Park and Manatee will play Friday's Class 5A-Region 3 final on a pristine baseball field.
Major League Baseball wouldn't have it any other way.
The field at Pinellas Park High was picked to undergo a major renovation as part of the 2010 MLB Groundskeepers Conference, which took place in Clearwater Beach during January of that year. According to this release, the project took nine months to complete and involved groundskeepers from 22 big-league teams.
The renovation included the installation of warning tracks, irrigation and a wind screen, along with foul poles and a flagpole. Home plate and the pitcher's mound were rebuilt, and two mounds were installed in the bullpen.
"I asked for everything," Patriots coach Bill Ruttencutter told The Herald on Wednesday, "and I got about 95 percent."
The Baseball Tomorrow Fund, Phillies Charities and the Rays Baseball Foundation helped finance the project. MLB Groundskeepers, the Toro Company, Covermaster, Inc., and Turface Athletics were among the companies that donated materials, equipment and labor.
It's paid off for Pinellas Park, which will host the Hurricanes 7 p.m. Friday for the Region 3 title. The Patriots (13-14) have been home throughout the entire postseason and are in a regional championship game for the first time in Ruttencutter's 11-year tenure.
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