by Nels Nelsen

Renovation and construction on the St. John Bosco baseball field are underway and near completion, as Bosco Baseball hosted their first official home game this season.

The baseball field construction project began back in June 2024 on the Monday after the CIF State playoffs with the turf field being worked on first. By the first week of November 2024, the turf field was finished and the baseball team was able to practice on the new field for the first time.

Bosco’s Athletic Director, Vince Brown, has only been at Bosco for two years, but has been an athletic director for 23 years having prior experience at Orange Lutheran High School.

“The first phase was doing the field.” said Mr. Brown “The second phase is doing the dugouts and bullpens, and then hopefully – this summer – we will put in a new scoreboard.”

With a lot of work still to be done, rescheduling was necessary for the first six weeks of the season. The first official home opener was intended to be set for February 18th, but was pushed back to April 1st. Fortunately, the field was ready in time for the home opener against Trinity League opponent Orange Lutheran. 

This game was a great way to break in the new field, as the Braves made a statement with a thrilling 2-1 comeback and walk-off win. 

Not only is the field being rebuilt, but there will be the addition of new dugouts, a brand new team clubhouse, training areas and brand new fencing. The goal of the renovation is to make a transition from an older look to one of the most top-notch high school facilities in California. 

Having the new facilities will not only bring in more student-athletes, but also help families make decisions on where to send their children. New facilities, in general, also uphold the prestige and reputation of any institution like St. John Bosco.

Current players from the baseball team seem to be hopeful and excited about the construction project as well.

“Being a pitcher [I am] most excited about getting our dugouts done and our new bullpens going in. I think [it will] be really helpful in our development,” senior Trevor Heishman said.

Trevor believes the development of the baseball program will be improved because there will be a better space to enhance the training experience for the players especially.

Once the construction project is done, the baseball facilities on campus will be better than many others. They could potentially be better than some of the local college facilities, according to Trevor.

“I believe [we have] had some success in the past, but with the new buildings going up, I think that we will have more consistent success,” said Trevor.

Overall, the construction project has received nothing but praise, and it looks like the project will offer the best baseball experience for our Braves once it is finished.