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

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May 15, 2016
926
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DD practices at our local elementary school field. The school district will not be rushing to fill in the hole DD digs when she practices pitching with me. She has dug a respectable hole at this point. I won't be able to drag out a rake to the field. I figured we kick some of the infield dirt (which seems to have a decent clay content) and add some water when we are done for the day, that might help. Anything else we could do, or is there a particular order of adding water and kicking in the dirt that would be best?
 
Feb 3, 2010
5,752
113
Pac NW
A little water, a little dirt, little more water, etc. Just enough water to get it moist. Cover with a layer of dry dirt then pack it with your feet. We do the same before a practice and include the batter's boxes.
 
Last edited:
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
If the hole is a trench right in frount of pitching plate, I would not worry about it. By the end of the 1st inning most games she pitches in will have this hole.

A pitching plate and home plate are preety cheap and you can setup anywhere, nice pitching on dirt even if not the real circle. For a pitching plate you want the ones that you hammer down on the side, the ones with the nails under the plate are lousy.
 
Nov 18, 2015
1,585
113
Unless you're going to rebuild the mound area with clay bricks, then water is likely your best option.

You've probably already discovered dry dirt in a hole is next to useless. Going off only what I have read, adding damp IF mix a little at a time, and tamping that down, should help hold it in place a little longer.


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May 15, 2016
926
18
If the hole is a trench right in frount of pitching plate, I would not worry about it. By the end of the 1st inning most games she pitches in will have this hole.

A pitching plate and home plate are preety cheap and you can setup anywhere, nice pitching on dirt even if not the real circle. For a pitching plate you want the ones that you hammer down on the side, the ones with the nails under the plate are lousy.

True about the end of the 1st inning, but at this point she has pitched five days straight off the same pitching plate. The hole is getting very deep. Having my own plates would make sense, I guess I could set up next to the plate that is already there.
 
Sep 29, 2014
2,421
113
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.
 
Feb 3, 2010
5,752
113
Pac NW
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.

Hoping to do this at our HS fields. I have about $900 raised and we're just waiting for word from the district.
 

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