Parents plan improvements for Quincy field

QUINCY—  When Steve Omlin and Brenda Garrison went to watch a baseball game at Quincy High School’s stadium last year, their eyes turned from the players to the state of the field.

What they saw was dry grass, limited seating, old dirt and no fence.

“I realized while traveling to other fields to watch my kids play that our field is not what it should be,” said Omlin, father of two baseball players. “This kept bothering me and I wanted to do something about it.”

The Babe Ruth baseball coach shared his concerns with Garrison. Both made plans to improve the field and presented their ideas to the Quincy School District at a recent board meeting.

“We’ve gotten a positive response from the school board and the superintendent,” Garrison said. “I hope to see improvements by next season.”

Changes haven’t been made to the nearly 50 year old field since the early 1990s, when new dirt, landing strip and press box area were added.

“It’s the same field I played in when I was in high school and I don’t think much has been added,” Omlin said. “It’s time, it needs to be upgraded.”

School board member Mile Scharbach helped with the latest improvements and is excited about Omlin and Garrison’s ideas, he said.

“I’m all for it, without a doubt,” said school board member Mike Scharbach. “The youth use that field all the time and they deserve a good one.”

The youth don’t have many options; this is the only baseball field in Quincy, said Omlin.

“They don’t complain until they go to other fields and see what it could be,” said Garrison, mom of a high school player.

Omlin noticed a big difference in the performance of Quincy players when they played on other fields.

“It seems they step it up a notch and play a lot better,” he said. “Maybe it just feels cool to them.”

The two parents want to have a permanent fence, new grass and sod, upgraded dug-outs and other related improvements.

“We need better bleachers and more seating areas for families and fans,” Omlin said.

Other Quincy residents have voiced their approval of these plans and have given their support.

“It needs to be improved for the sake of having a quality park to play in,” said former high school baseball player Mike Flanagan. “I’d like to see a new ball park with lights so people could have tournaments and play during the summer nights.”

Garrison and Omlin are in the early processes of finalizing plans and thinking of fund-raising events. They will present further details of their proposals to the school board at the next meeting on July 20. 

“It was great to learn about their interest in improving the field,” said superintendent Burton Dickerson. “It’s always appreciated when parents or community members  are interested in going the extra mile.”

School board makes the final decision on whether the field changes will occur. All funding will come from donations. Improvements would cost about $200,000.

“They know we are in favor of it and that it’s just a matter of fund-raising,” Scharbach said. “They know that if they need help they can call me.”

A concern is people using the field will be inconvenienced during construction.

“We need to make sure that we are not impending opportunities that others have to use the field,” Dickerson said. “We want to work with everyone in the community to find ways to bring about improvements, while still enabling fans to continue to use the field.”