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Russell Field could be ready for opener PDF Print E-mail
Sports - Paola
Written by Gene Morris   
Wednesday, 11 March 2009 09:00
Twenty-eight days remain before the Paola High School baseball team is scheduled to play its first home game.

Whether that will be at Russell Field or not remains to be seen.

Addressing several safety concerns about the field this winter, the Paola American Legion raised $5,000 to get a matching $5,000 grant from the Kansas City Royals to work on leveling the infield.

Harris Excavating also evaluated the slope of the outfield, which was five feet from left to right field.

Lighting at the field for night games was also deemed to be dangerous with numerous lights not working on several of the poles.
The lighting project was estimated at $40,000. Jeff Johnson, American Legion Baseball chairman, began a letter-writing campaign to solicit funds for the project.

“We wouldn’t be able to raise the money needed for the lights without the support of the community, which has been so generous and so supportive of our young people,” he wrote.

Johnson got word a few weeks ago from Kathy Lovig at TeamBank in Paola that a grant he wrote for the lights was approved by the John and Jewell Roman Foundation for $15,000.

“We are so grateful to have foundations like the Jewell Foundation and the Bahr Foundation to support our local youths,” Johnson said.

Before opening the spring baseball season at Russell Field, the American Legion has proceeded to address the slope and lighting issues, as well as put up new fence from the foul poles to the dugouts.

Paola coach Paul Brack and volunteers Scott and Jeremiah Daniels, David and Sam Schneider and John Ohlmeier were at the field Saturday, putting up fence along the first and third base lines.

Crews from Kansas City Power & Light and the Electric Shop in Paola will be at the field to start the process of putting in the new light poles and installing new lights.

The Electric Shop will be replacing the electrical infrastructure at the field.

Johnson said he is hopeful the work can be completed in time for the Paola Panthers’ home opener against Eudora on April 7.
Rumors of its demise

Despite rumors of its demise, high school baseball is not dead.

The cancellation of the high school baseball season is just one of the rumors Johnson has heard this winter.

That is not the case. Paola High School is looking at options to play some Panther home games on the road if Russell Field is not ready in time for the start of the season this April, Paola Athletic Director Mark Lentz said.

Six junior varsity home games have been scheduled for play in Paola at the Rock Stadium, one of the fields home to Babe Ruth League baseball.

Stories going around the rumor mill that someone standing in right field could not see the batter are not true, Johnson said. And, contrary to rumors, the outfield fence is visible from the dugout.

There are safety issues with the slope of the outfield that are being addressed, but they have been greatly exaggerated, Johnson said.

“After fixing the infield to the specifications we wanted, we became aware of another problem,” Johnson said. “It is like fixing a house, one thing led to another. We were aware of an issue with the slope of the outfield.

“We had a concern that the slope would be significant,” he said. “As soon as we finished the infield work, we loved how it turned out, but it created a new problem.”

Green Country Soils donated dirt and crews began working to feather the slope in the outfield, Johnson said.

Community Field

There is no way to determine how many Paola young people have played baseball at Russell Field or how many people have sat in the stands to watch the Paola High School Panthers, or Paola American Legion team or a Babe Ruth League team play baseball.

Russell Field is a historic part of the community with a long tradition of baseball, Johnson said. Saving that was something important to everyone in Paola.

“When you think about Russell Field and how many games it has hosted and how many Paola kids it has served throughout the years, I think it is so much wiser to raise the money to make improvements to this historic field than to try to build a new complex and further burden the taxpayers,” Johnson said.

To save the community field has taken a community effort, but with everyone working together the projects are taking shape, Johnson said.

The Paola American Legion, the city of Paola, the school district and the Paola Babe Ruth League have all stepped up to support the improvements at the field, Johnson said.

“This is truly a community field and it takes a community effort to raise the funds needed to maintain it,” he said. “It has been a lot of work, but it has been worth it.”

Raising the money

Johnson wrote several grant proposals this winter and a grant for $15,000 towards the lights was funded by the John and Jewel Roman Foundation through TeamBank in Paola.

The city of Paola is contributing $5,000 to the lighting project, which comes with a projected price tag of $40,000.

Kansas City Power & Light has been very supportive of the project, Johnson said. The company has donated the transformers needed, along with the poles for the new lights and the manpower to set the poles.

“You talk about a company that really supports the community,” Johnson said. “Kansas City Power & Light has been a huge help, donating all of the materials and manpower. I had conservative estimates at $30,000 for the materials, and that’s not including the manpower.”

A letter-writing campaign by Johnson this summer raised several thousand dollars from businesses and individuals in the community.
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