No more bus rides to practice — Lincoln debuts new all-turf baseball, softball fields
Kevin Smith has always felt it’s an uphill climb coaching baseball at Lincoln High School in Tacoma. While some programs around the South Sound are stacked with future college talent, Smith is lucky if everyone who shows up for tryouts has even played baseball before.
“This isn’t a school that produces baseball players typically,” he said Monday afternoon during practice. “Because that’s a different genre. You’ve gotta have money to play baseball year-round. We don’t get that all the time up there.”
Maybe the playing field is starting to level — literally. Lincoln debuted its new sports complex this spring, complete with an all-turf baseball field, all-turf softball field, new tennis courts and bathrooms.
The project, which cost Tacoma Public Schools $12.2 million and was funded by a 2020 bond, replaced the dilapidated fields that previously sat on the north side of the campus, overlooking Lincoln Bowl. For everyone wearing black and gold, it’s been a welcome and long overdue change.
“Long time coming for us,” said Lincoln athletic director Curtis Fletcher. “I’m excited for the kids and the coaches. This is ours.”
Previously, Lincoln’s teams had to bus to various parks and fields in Tacoma for practices and games most of the time. Lincoln would play games at Metro Parks owned SERA and Peck fields, as well as Hunt Middle School.
“I’ve noticed a difference now,” Smith said. “These kids actually, even if they haven’t played (baseball), they still feel like it’s theirs, they belong and it’s part of what we’re doing here. Practices are better, kids are more excited to be here, we’re not getting on a bus to go to practice.”
Can it turn Lincoln into a baseball and softball contender? Maybe not, but Smith thinks it’s better than the alternative.
“It’s not gonna hurt, that’s for dang sure,” he said, laughing. “I’m not gonna say we’re gonna be those guys, but we’re playing better than we have for a long, long time because there’s consistency to what we’re doing every day.”
The district began construction on the project in summer 2023. It’s part of a larger trend in western Washington toward moving to all-turf fields for spring sports. While sports like football and soccer have been played on turf fields for some time, the shift to all-turf baseball and softball fields is more recent.
Across all sports, the majority of high school fields in Tacoma Public Schools at Lincoln, Mount Tahoma, Silas, Foss and Stadium are turf. In an area with constant rain, it seems like a no-brainer to TPS district athletic director James Neil.
“All of our baseball, fastpitch, football and soccer (at the high school level) will be fully turfed within the next three to four years,” Neil said. “It’s pretty hard not to go up (to Lincoln) and see a bunch of smiles. … Tacoma Public Schools is extremely grateful for the support of our community to allow us to have amazing facilities for our kids.”
The biggest advantages of turf: easy, low-cost maintenance and not having to cancel games because of weather. Unless there’s a complete downpour, turf fields allow teams to play through rainy conditions.
“Everything should be turf,” Fletcher said. “You get your games in.”
Lincoln’s players are soaking it in this spring. Senior second baseman Jase Lawrence gave the project a thumbs up.
“I really like it,” he said. “It’s a fun field to play on. It’s nice. I was super excited. This is gonna be my last year so we’ll have our own field.”
This story was originally published April 11, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
