Spring weather normally put a damper on the beginning of the Bonduel High School softball season.
Rain would quickly flood the Bears’ home field at Cedar Park, across the street from the high school. The infield dirt would become unplayable, pushing the team indoors to practice in Bonduel Elementary School’s gymnasium and often forcing games to be postponed or canceled.
To fix the problem, head softball coach Chris Reinke contacted Ball Diamond Fine Sports Turf, of Baraboo, which estimated it would cost $25,000 to remove nearly 4 inches of dirt and install a new surface.
“Initially when I got the quote for $25,000, I thought, ‘Oh, my Lord.’ We were expecting it to maybe be about half of that,” Reinke said. “I guess I was pretty amazed at how the community and the different groups jumped in to give that money to make this a better surface.”
Donations came from the Bonduel School District, Bat and Ball Club, Bonduel High School Booster Club, Lions Club and the Bonduel Broncos baseball organization. The Jack Reinke Memorial Foundation also gave money to the cause.
Ryan Engel, president of the Bonduel Bat and Ball Club for the past five years, said the renovation and other village projects can help bring more people to Bonduel.
“I think most definitely — more opportunities to have additional tournaments and bring other communities to Bonduel to see what we all have to offer,” Engel said.
Engel said the village is looking into building a new concession stand and updating the parking lot at Cedar Park.
The two diamonds at the park get used heavily over the summer. Multiple games are played almost every night.
“Between all of our leagues, we have a little over 20 different teams that are using those diamonds over the course of the summer. Basically Sunday through Saturday, whenever they can get on those diamonds,” Engel said.
Reinke hopes her team will be able to get out onto the playing surface prior to the season’s first game next spring, something that has not always been a given in her previous three seasons as a coach.
She hopes it will also help the Bears stay competitive with other area teams.
“Just being able to get on there sooner, I think, is going to make a big difference for the program,” Reinke said. “Other schools were getting so much more time on the field before we were.”
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