RUSK BASEBALL/SOFTBALL
Work squad to the rescue
BY JEREME HUBBARD

Inmates from the TDCJ Skyview/Hodge work crews set the posts for new batting cages being constructed at the Rusk Baseball/Softball Association Complex. Construction was delayed last weekend due to a collapse of the roofing trusses.

More parking, covered batting cages top long list of improvements made by TDCJ

The sounds and smells of baseball and softball will soon fill the air at the Rusk Baseball/ Softball Association complex. Thanks to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice work squad, players and parents will enjoy improvements to the playing fields and surrounding areas.

"No matter how much time and effort the RBSA board members put into improving the ballpark, we still wouldn't be able to get it done without help," RBSA vice-president Brian Townsend said. "The work squad came out and helped us get a bunch of things done that we would have been hard pressed to get done in time to start the season."

This is not the first time the work squad has helped the RBSA get the facilities ready to open the season. The past two years they have given their time and energy to the association and the youth that benefit from

their work.

Visitors will first notice improvements upon entering the complex, as the work squad cleaned the fence row along the entryway. Workers also cut down a dead tree that cleared the way for more parking if needed.

Work squad members also completed numerous other tasks around the ballpark. They built a fence between equipment buildings and the concession area providing a secure place for the storage of maintenance equipment and also built a rack to store the portable mounds under a covered awning.

Besides the normal mowing and weed-eating duties, workers also pulled grass out of the infields of all three fields and cut the baselines and outfield lines.

Painting was also necessary in a few areas and work squad members painted all of the foul poles and repainted the backstop on the middle field of the complex.

Coaches will get the benefit of a new wrinkle added to all three fields by the work squad. Small benches have been welded to the front of all dugouts for coaches to sit on during games.

The biggest change at the ballpark this year will be the addition of new covered batting cages.

The work squad had the daunting task of taking down the old batting cages and their metal frames and then setting the poles for the new batting cages.

The work squad will continue to work at the complex until April 24 in preparation for opening ceremonies for the RBSA April 26.