The grass is cut and green, chalk lines are drawn, the scoreboard is working and all of the small details have been ironed out.

Most baseball fans probably don’t think about all that goes into the maintenance and upkeep of fields, but Jeff Boyett does.

As the director of maintenance for the City of Vicksburg, part of Boyett’s job is to make sure the baseball and softball fields at Halls Ferry and Bazinsky parks look good and are in working order.

To get ready for a monthlong run of tournaments that included the 16-year-olds’ Babe Ruth Southwest Regional and the 98-team Governor’s Cup, Boyett and his crew have paid special attention to Bazinsky Field.

&#8220During this part of the year when everybody’s playing baseball, we’re trying to take care of the grass and keep everything cleaned up,” Boyett said. &#8220In wintertime, we’re trying to do whatever we can, repairs on facilities and stuff like that.”

The main thing for Boyett’s crew, of course, is making sure the turf is healthy and the fields are playable.

Vicksburg Parks and Recreation Director Joe Graves, who coaches the Mississippi Mudcats 12-year-olds’ team, said Vicksburg’s baseball facilities compare favorably with those of surrounding cities.

&#8220We’ve played all over the area at other tournaments, and our fields, turf and appearance and stuff like that is so much better than anything that we play on anywhere else,” Graves said. &#8220It’s unequal. Jeff and his crew do a great job keeping the fields looking great.”

Besides doing actual work on the fields such as mowing, fertilizing and trimming, Boyett said his crew is responsible for the lights, concession stands, press boxes and anything else that needs to be maintained, repaired or painted.

&#8220It’s pretty constant with repairs and fixing this and that,” Boyett said. &#8220It’s something new all the time.”

In addition to maintaining the tennis courts and fields at Halls Ferry and Bazinsky, Graves said the crew is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of about 20 other neighborhood parks across the city and the Catfish Row Art Park.

&#8220A lot of people don’t understand the tennis courts, the baseball fields and the softball fields at Halls Ferry is just a small part of what they have to actually do,” Graves said. &#8220They put on quite a few different hats besides working the ballfields.”

INSIDE

Governor’s Cup schedule