Advice for dad and daughter-fixing holes in front of the pitcher's plate

djcarter1966 · Oct 2, 2017

Guess it just depends on the people and the agreements in place. We used the city parks exclusively and they maintained the dugouts and cut the grass and dragged the fields on a schedule. If it had just rained on Friday and you wanted to play on Saturday it was up to us to get out there and prep the fields and do anything because they had already done it for the week and they were not scheduled to come until next week. If we had a big tournament scheduled for the weekend we would work it out with them to change their schedule so they would do all their field maintenance on Friday but that was the best we could expect. We did the clay on our main field when it became a safety issue we also replaced the pitching plates at different distances that were all permanent with system that has removable plates

martianr · Oct 2, 2017

FYI. for people interested improving their pitching mound and possibly their battering and catching area.
http://www.nfhs.org/media/881554/nfhs-softball-pitching-plate-relocation.pdf

Sparky Guy · Oct 2, 2017

The best way to fill the holes in front of the pitching rubber if there are no other games to be played on the field immediately following.

1) Scrape all the loose dirt from the hole/trench.

2) Pour a gallon or two of water into the hole. Don't be afraid of using too much water.

3) Scrape the loose dirt back into the hole to the point you over-fill the hole slightly.

4) Let it sit a couple of minutes till it starts to firm up.

5) Compact the area with your foot or a tamp if you have one.

The water helps the loose dirt combine with the hard dirt under it into a solid area again. If the field is really dry and the field has several hours to sit. Turn the area in front of the pitching rubber into mud. The water will drain down and the area will be solid once dried. This works best on fields with actual field material on it. It does not work well on crushed limestone fields which is what many park districts use on the fields because it drains well.

Bob516 · Oct 2, 2017

Sparky Guy said:
The best way to fill the holes in front of the pitching rubber if there are no other games to be played on the field immediately following.

1) Scrape all the loose dirt from the hole/trench.

2) Pour a gallon or two of water into the hole. Don't be afraid of using too much water.

3) Scrape the loose dirt back into the hole to the point you over-fill the hole slightly.

4) Let it sit a couple of minutes till it starts to firm up.

5) Compact the area with your foot or a tamp if you have one.

The water helps the loose dirt combine with the hard dirt under it into a solid area again. If the field is really dry and the field has several hours to sit. Turn the area in front of the pitching rubber into mud. The water will drain down and the area will be solid once dried. This works best on fields with actual field material on it. It does not work well on crushed limestone fields which is what many park districts use on the fields because it drains well.

This is exactly what I was looking for, thanks. The field seems to be more clay than sand, it acts a lot like clay. Generally it does not drain very well, so I doubt it is limestone

obbay · Oct 3, 2017

We had a field that was so dry the dirt had the consistency of talcum powder.
I would bring a gallon jug of water and an extendable plastic shovel (the kind they make for you to keep in your car in case of snow). It was about 30"-36" long when not extended.between innings, before our team would pitch, I'd scrape the dirt back in the hole(s), add water and tamp it down with my foot, working in layers. It didn't take long and it helped both teams.
There was no water available at that field.

WARRIORMIKE · Oct 4, 2017

djcarter1966 said:
If they will let you do maintenance on the field I would recommend doing the clay bricks in front of the pitchers plate and probably RH batters box. Depending on how much use they get it should last the fall season. There are some good video on youtube that go over the process, lots of water and tamping down but it is really the only thing that works.

Adding to that Check out "Turface" website. Lots of good stuff there.

Another option is to you a practice pitching mat. Rubber preferably.

Bob516 · Oct 4, 2017

Sparky Guy said:
The best way to fill the holes in front of the pitching rubber if there are no other games to be played on the field immediately following.

1) Scrape all the loose dirt from the hole/trench.

2) Pour a gallon or two of water into the hole. Don't be afraid of using too much water.

3) Scrape the loose dirt back into the hole to the point you over-fill the hole slightly.

4) Let it sit a couple of minutes till it starts to firm up.

5) Compact the area with your foot or a tamp if you have one.

The water helps the loose dirt combine with the hard dirt under it into a solid area again. If the field is really dry and the field has several hours to sit. Turn the area in front of the pitching rubber into mud. The water will drain down and the area will be solid once dried. This works best on fields with actual field material on it. It does not work well on crushed limestone fields which is what many park districts use on the fields because it drains well.

Your advice worked out. The pitching circle was in great condition today. Thanks again.

Bob516 · Oct 4, 2017

WARRIORMIKE said:
Adding to that Check out "Turface" website. Lots of good stuff there.

Another option is to you a practice pitching mat. Rubber preferably.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Sparky Guy · Oct 5, 2017

Another thing you can do it get a piece of plywood and cut it 6"X24" Drill a couple of holes in it. Get two large spikes from HOme Depot and use them to secure your homemade pitching plate to the ground. Now you can move to the side or any other location you wish without having to worry about holes. Just be sure to refill your DD's holes when she's done practicing. You have a pitching plate for the price of a couple of spikes and a pieces of scrape plywood.

Bob516 · Oct 5, 2017

Sparky Guy said:
Another thing you can do it get a piece of plywood and cut it 6"X24" Drill a couple of holes in it. Get two large spikes from HOme Depot and use them to secure your homemade pitching plate to the ground. Now you can move to the side or any other location you wish without having to worry about holes. Just be sure to refill your DD's holes when she's done practicing. You have a pitching plate for the price of a couple of spikes and a pieces of scrape plywood.

Thanks, but I can't bend over to nail spikes into the ground.. I will stick with your original suggestion that worked so well for me.

Advice for dad and daughter-fixing holes in front of the pitcher's plate

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