NEW PALESTINE — When they take their home field for the first time in 2020, the Class 3A state softball champions will find themselves in somewhat unfamiliar territory.
The diamond that the New Palestine Dragons have called home during six state championship seasons will soon be gone. Construction will begin in the coming months, part of bigger renovations to New Palestine High School that were approved by the school board in March.
Planned additions to the school mean that the softball field will have to move. It won’t be a big move — the plan is to put the varsity diamond next to the current JV diamond — but it will definitely be a change of scenery.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
“It always had a really good setting,” New Palestine softball coach Ed Marcum said of the current field. “They had planted the trees behind the fence … watching the trees get more mature, it’s really kind of brought everything together as far as the diamond goes.”
When Marcum took over the softball program 16 years ago, the field was already very well-drained field, he said. Marcum talked to Jamie Mehringer, who spent five years as the head groundskeeper for the Indianapolis Indians before starting his own turf business, to figure out a way to make the field even better.
They chose to go with vitrified clay as the top dresser to the field, which absorbs water and helps with runoff.
That decision paid off.
“It worked out really well,” Marcum said. “Every year we would put a couple of tons on, just kind of started incorporating that clay into the existing ag line. Through the years, it just continued to get better.”
That gave the Dragons a home field that could withstand weather and conditions that many other fields couldn’t. This year, New Palestine was able to host county rival Mt. Vernon for a game that likely would have been canceled at any other field.
Because of how well New Palestine’s field drained and handled water, the teams were able to play on a day that saw postponements all across central Indiana.
“I’ve always wanted it to be something that we could be proud of,” Marcum said. “Then, when we started winning championships, we were able to put up the banners that we have and have been able to continue that. That just kind of adds to the facility. I get so many other coaches and players telling me how much they enjoy coming there and playing on that diamond. I even had an umpire tell me this year that he was honored to be able to umpire a game because of not only the program, but the facility. As a coach that has cared about the diamond and tried to do everything possible to make it a great facility, that was exciting for me to hear.”
The final game at the current field was as fitting a finale as the Dragons could have hoped for. They hosted Indian Creek on May 23 in a sectional championship game, winning 11-0 to secure their 14th sectional title in program history.
The final at-bat of that game was also fitting. Indiana all-star and Hancock County Player of the Year Emily O’Connor stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and the Dragons leading by seven runs.
She hammered a ball well over the outfield fence, her grand slam ending the game via run-rule and putting a perfect capper on the long legacy the current field has.
“It was an honor to even be a part of the New Palestine softball team, but to have the last at-bat on that field … I can’t even put it into words,” O’Connor said. “I was just so happy we could end its career with a win. The amount of blood and sweat us girls have poured into that field is equivalent to how many lessons that field has taught us.”
That was one of many memorable moments on the field Marcum has put so much time and work into. Comeback wins against Kokomo in 2019 and Greenwood in 2018 spring to mind for the coach.
The sectional and regional titles won at home do, too.
By far the most memorable aspect of the field is the players he was able to coach, though. They stand out above everything else.
“There’s been so many great moments,” Marcum said. “Truthfully, I just think of all the great players that have came through there throughout the years. To see them come in as freshman, to leave and go on to become moms, great members of society, I just think of all the players that I’ve been able to have the honor to coach on that diamond.”
Six recently-graduated Dragons, including O’Connor, got to finish off their careers on the current diamond, just as 2018’s Miss Softball, Ashley Prange, was able to.
While she’s sad to see it go, watching the 2019 class send the field out with a three-peat was the perfect ending in the eyes of Ohio State’s third baseman.
“I hate to see it go, but I’m glad that I got to finish out my four years, and I’m glad the last team did too, because I think that’s quite a legacy to have, that senior class having three state championships,” Prange said. “It’s a cool end to that diamond. It’ll be cool to see what they come up with for a new one.”
With the new diamond comes an opportunity to create new memories. Marcum admittedly isn’t one for change — he’s been working at The Links Golf Club in New Palestine for 38 years — and while he hates to see the current field go, too, he sees possibilities ahead.
He sees an opportunity to improve more than just one field as the Dragons begin their first season in Class 4A.
“I’ve been told it will have a lot of similarities to the diamond that we have now,” Marcum said. “One thing I am hoping, since we’re going to be right there together next to the JV diamond, I’m hoping to be able to spend some quality time fixing that diamond up, too. Now, instead of it being back in the corner, we’re going to be sitting side-by-side. We need to do probably a better job than what we’ve done making that a focal point as well and being able to make that facility something we can proud of, as well.”