April 24, 2008

Eleven years ago, Bazinsky Field opened in Vicksburg to great fanfare. It was dubbed one of the nicest high school parks in Mississippi.

The meticulously cut grass resembled the work of a professional grounds crew. The infield dragged by a tractor with a rake attachment made the playing surface soft and inviting. A warning track – certainly not an everyday feature at many high school ballparks – edged perfectly around the entire field.

Bazinsky was a jewel in the world of high school baseball.

But walk out to Bazinsky Field today and a much different, much bleaker picture appears. The backstop ripped apart by severe storms on April 4 is in the same disrepair as it was the Monday after the storm. The screens around the fence at home plate hangs loosely; the screens around the bullpens in shambles.

Nearly three weeks after the storms and virtually nothing has been done to repair it. Officials with the parks and recreation department said it will be at least four weeks before anything is done.

The storm damage only tells half the story of Bazinsky’s decline. Any number of different weeds are growing through the surface of the warning track around the entire field. The closer to the outfield wall one gets, the thicker the weeds are growing. The infield dirt resembles the hard, jagged surface of the parking lot which sits behind the right field wall – a parking lot, mind you, that was supposed to be paved soon after the park’s opening in 1997. The infield is so bad, players are hesitant to even slide into a base.

In short, the once jewel of Mississippi high school baseball is a miserable shell of what it once was.

Plans are in the works – allegedly – to tear down the backstop and replace it with another fence. Originally, a 3-foot brick wall with netting rising above it was planned, but that would take too long, city officials said. The brick wall with netting was supposed to have been done last year when the City of Vicksburg landed the Babe Ruth Southwest Regional tournament. One of the selling points to attract the tournament was the fixing of the backstop – a chain link fence extending almost 20 feet skyward.

Bazinsky’s condition has also led to a ridiculous scheduling hurdle for both VHS and St. Aloysius. Both have played games at Warren Central. Seeing Vicksburg High playing at WC as the home team still seems out of the ordinary, but it is a quality field that has gotten more use this year than any before.

St. Al has played home games at WC as well, but since Vicksburg and WC are in the same school district, the Gators get first rights. That leaves the Flashes searching for other homes such as Hinds Community College. Consider this scheduling quandary: Vicksburg beat Neshoba Central on Saturday and had a doubleheader scheduled for Monday. Warren Central, though, was scheduled to play at home on Monday. Not until Sunday when WC coach Randy Broome got the call from Greenville’s coach saying it was forfeiting Monday’s game could VHS schedule its second game.

Ask St. Al coach Clint Wilkerson where his team will play its home playoff game Friday against Ethel and you’ll get a simple, “I don’t know.”

On Monday, city crews were lining the softball fields, cutting the grass and dragging the infield for youth games, so at least work crews were doing something. The only action at Bazinsky on Monday was the hum of four bucket trucks beyond the outfield wall. But those trucks belonged to a phone company.

Repairs take time, especially when government is involved, but wouldn’t it be nice, after 20 days, to at least see a little progress?

Eleven short years ago, a jewel shined brightly in Vicksburg. Bazinsky Field was its name.

Now it resembles a lump of coal.

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Sean P. Murphy is sports editor of The Vicksburg Post. E-mail him at

smurphy@vicksburgpost.com