Anyone who’s ever played infield in their local softball league can relate to the dreaded bad hop that could have you looking more like a hockey player than a baseball player. Or the flash flood that made the field more suitable for ducks than humans. Luckily, the days of sourcing any old local dirt for use at the ball fields is becoming a thing of the past. Ball players nation-wide are enjoying the game more safely and its all thanks to a new scientific approach to manufacturing the dirt used for infields and pitching mounds.
Enter “engineered” baseball field soils. Mixed with the perfect ratio of sand, clay and silt to create a desirable surface, infields and pitching mounds are now able to absorb a mid-game rain shower, keeping the field playable. Also, thanks to the use of engineered soils, ground balls have become more predictable, players are less likely to twist an ankle that’s stuck in the mud, and to top it all off, the dirt adds an aesthetic value to the fields with hues of red, deep brown and other desired colors that are popular in different parts of the county thanks to the use of specialized dyes added to the soil.
CPS Distributors Partners With DuraEdge
At the center of the infield dirt revolution is Pennsylvania dirt farmer Grant McKnight, founder of DuraEdge Products. DuraEdge supplies the dirt used for about two-thirds of the 30 major league teams. As the desire for better dirt on ball fields has grown, distributorship across the US has made the product more readily available. Recently, CPS distributors has teamed up with DuraEdge to provide engineered DuraEdge soil to local ball fields in the Colorado and Wyoming markets.
CPS can assist you in determining the best engineered soil solutions for your specific scenario. According to CPS Outside Sales Rep Jim Mueller,
Determining the ideal mixture of sand, silt, and clay for your base soil is dependent on the resources you have available to maintain the soil and your access to water. What works for the big leagues will not necessarily work for everyone. Those with access to a high level of maintenance workers, time, and water are able to use a higher silt/clay mixture while scenarios with limited maintenance and water sources will do best with a high sand mixture. Who you are determines where your soil levels should be, and what you should do to balance your base soil.
CPS can walk you through the process of determining the ideal ratio of sand, silt, and clay that will provide the best results for your ball field. It is also possible to improve your current infield material without removing and replacing it. In fact, infield amendments are one of DuraEdge’s specialties!
If you are a municipality, coach, athletic director, parks & rec director, or grounds manager and would like to learn more about how DuraEdge engineered soil can help you preserve the safety and well-being of those that use your facilities, contact CPS distributors today to learn how we can partner with you to help your field operations succeed.
DuraEdge was recently featured in the Wall Street Journal! To view the article, please click the following link:
View DuraEdge’s Feature in the Wall Street Journal
