Close your eyes and envision the scenes on a baseball diamond.

In Western Pennsylvania — with the struggles of uncooperative spring weather — they might not look that same as you’d imagine. Clouds of dust from a base-runner sliding in safely are giving way to sprays of rubber pellets. Lawnmowers and rakes stay in the shed, useless on a field that maintains its look year-round.

So, why are artificial turf surfaces replacing their natural counterparts? Well, there’s a number of reasons, actually.

Benefits of Artificial Turf

Traditional, grass-and-dirt baseball fields aren’t always perfect — and if they appear so, it’s not for a lack of hard work and care.

This was the issue Seneca Valley High School was running into before it installed turf on its baseball, softball, and lacrosse fields in 2016 — a project that Raiders athletic director Heather Lewis recalls costing just under $3.4 million.

“There was a lip where the dirt met the outfield,” Seneca Valley athletic director Heather Lewis said. “Then, in our outfield, there was kind of some undulations ... In baseball, it’s not good to have lips like that with the ball hit as hard and as fast as it is. It can ricochet very quickly. And I didn’t like kids backpedaling in the outfield and not having a smooth surface.”

The aspect of better play factors in, too.

“You know you’re not going to get a bad hop,” Butler baseball coach Josh Forbes said. “Some turf is faster than others. When you play at Seneca Valley, it’s newer, it’s bouncier. When you play at Pullman, it’s harder ... Some fields play harder, some fields play softer.”

Slippery Rock University coach Jeff Messer — who saw the Rock install turf at —Jack Critchfield Park in 2020 — explained how it affects the game.

“You can look at the fielding averages,” Messer said. “Most teams that have turf are going to have a higher fielding average, just because it’s a truer hop ... Depending on how much rubber or sand that they put in the turf, it can dictate the speed of the ball coming off.”

Then, of course, there’s the obvious. Fickle weather can’t keep teams off of turf like it does a natural surface.

“A lot of these schools can’t get on a field until the end of April,” Karns City baseball coach Josh Smith said. “We’re lucky enough to get our games in at Butler. But a lot of schools are just doing the same thing.

“’Hey, let’s just rent there (Michelle Krill Field at Historic Pullman Park). We can get the games in.’”

“It’s Baseball”

While acknowledging the advantages of artificial surfaces, Forbes is still a bit of a purist.

“Turf in Western Pa. is absolutely massive,” he said. “It saves games. It saves practices. It’s good for this area. But, when you have a field like North Allegheny and one like Upper St. Clair — that have grounds crews that can take care of it and they know what they’re doing — it’s essentially the same thing.

“Nice dirt fields, they play true just like turf does.”

He prefers well-kept dirt and grass to synthetic fibers.

“I’m playing on North Allegheny’s field,” Forbes said, given the either/or. “I’m playing on a dirt field ... It’s baseball. That’s baseball.”

Smith agreed, but added that times are changing.

“Naturally, having dirt on your uniform, that’s what baseball used to be all about,” Smith said. “That’s okay if you’re down in Myrtle Beach or Florida or areas where it’s nicer more than it’s not.

“I loved playing on dirt and sliding and getting dirty. And wiping your hands off because you just slid and got dirt and chalk all over your hands. Those days are getting numbered.”

Preparation of Natural Surface

Smith’s father, Michael “Snuffy” Smith, was an involved parent when it came to his son’s baseball career. The younger Smith remembers the extra time his elder spent tidying the field up, sometimes even on his work lunch break.

“He took pride in working on the fields — most dads did,” Smith said. “Somebody would line the field and rake the field, and clean it up after practices and games. I say, ‘Put the field to bed.’ Which means, ‘Fill in holes, fill in baselines, rake baselines.’ Stuff like that.”

In college, Forbes learned how to clay the batter’s box and pitching mound, something that he applies to the all-natural, on-campus field that Butler practices on throughout the season.

“Every day we practice on it, we’ve got to rake it,” Forbes said. “We’ve got to rake the edges, we’ve got to rake the base paths, we’ve got to get a drag on it just to smooth everything out.

“There is a lot that goes into taking care of it.”

We’re Talking About Practice

The games are only a percentage of a team’s season. Damp weather affects practice schedules, as well.

“We’d be able to practice on a day that it rains hard, but its still 50 degrees in the afternoon,” Forbes said of the prospect of switching to turf at the high school’s field. “That morning shower ... there’s not enough sunlight to come out, there’s not enough wind to dry that thing up.

“If we can’t get outside, we’ve got to go to the gym. If we can get outside to practice, that’s way better reps ... A gym floor is just not the same.”

It’s no different for Smith’s Gremlins.

“We make do with what we’ve got,” Smith said. “Having our own field — with at least a turf infield and proper drainage in the outfield — (would let) us have a practice facility.”

A Glimpse Into the Future?

With all of that being said, will natural surfaces eventually find themselves in the minority — like with football fields?

Lewis couldn’t say for sure, but she does notice a bit of a trend.

“I think what is happening is districts are starting to recognize if you put a turf field down, you can maximize it for your entire school,” Lewis said. “Phys ed classes during the day, baseball/softball after school, community use on the weekend. I think they’re starting to see the investment in the long run will pay off.”

Critchfield Park can easier accommodate club baseball, summer tournaments, and high school playoff games. On the high school level, it frees up manpower for other pressing issues.

“A lot of schools’ maintenance staffs are short-handed to begin with,” Smith said. “Years ago, that was part of the reason why renting Pullman Park was the option. We were spending a lot of money on Diamond Dry and taking the maintenance guys out of the school where they were working on projects to get a field ready constantly.

“It takes a lot of up-keep and it takes a lot of time to do them right.”

In the PSAC West division, Messer said only one team — Clarion — plays on a fully-natural surface. And, even then, the Golden Eagles rent out some of their games at Pullman.

Forbes doesn’t think that artificial surfaces will become the norm, however. Especially not at the professional level.

“They don’t have to,” Forbes said. “They have those massive tarps. They can maintain that stuff. Quite frankly, I bet you if you asked major league baseball players, they would rather play on the surfaces they’re playing on.”

With advances in technology, though, the different surfaces could become one and the same.

“The newer turf, it’s closer to grass,” Messer said. “It’s still not grass, but with the older turf, it was a harder surface and a tighter twine. I think there was more injuries. The biggest thing now with the turf is that they’re trying to get the turf to play like grass.

“If it’s affordable, turf is the way to go.”