'Dads Groundskeeper Helps Community
Hickory, NC - Hickory Crawdads Head Groundskeeper Zach Van Voorhees lent his time and expertise to help out the community over the weekend, as the 'Dads grounds specialist helped a group of volunteers build a new mound for Northview Middle School.
Using new field dirt supplied by the Northview Middle School Boosters Club, Van Voorhees and a group of parent volunteers rebuilt the school's mound and prepared the field for the season. The mound was raised approximately five inches, while both the back and front slopes were reshaped to provide better safety and performance.
"I was just trying to give back a little bit," said Van Voorhees. "It was good practice for me for (the Crawdads) upcoming season, and now they know how to maintain it."
Les Stewart, a parent of two Northview students and a member of the Boosters Club, was one of five parent volunteers who assisted Van Voorhees.
"We were very appreciative of the work Zach did for Northview Middle School baseball," said Stewart. "I was hoping Zach would give us some advice on how to best use the limited resources we had to get the field playable. He came on Saturday, his day off, and spent several hours in the cold helping us shape up the field and build the kids an awesome mound. We are thankful to the Crawdads and Zach for helping improve youth baseball in our community."
Tryouts for the Northview baseball team began this week, with the club's first game scheduled for Tuesday, March 17th at River Bend Middle School. The Hawks will host their first home game with the newly reshaped mound on Thursday, March 19th against H.M. Arndt.
The Crawdads season begins with an exhibition game against Lenoir-Rhyne University on Tuesday, April 7th, with the 'Dads South Atlantic League opener scheduled for Thursday, April 9th at L.P. Frans Stadium.
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