During the rainy season or a rain event the CSLL Board of Directors will try its best to keep the fields closures on the website up to date. Please understand that the website field closure cannot always be 100% accurate. It takes someone to either look at the cameras (if operational), walk the fields or contact the schools or the county parks to see if the fields are open or closed. This takes a lot of effort and time. Remember all this work is done by volunteers that are trying to do this while doing their own work and run their personal lives and families.
Please use the following guidelines to determine field conditions:
1. CSLL Field Complex (Majors, Minor, Farm fields) — CSLL board member will assess the field conditions and website will be updated between 2:00-3:00pm.
Majors and AAA games — If website says field(s) are open, but conditions are questionable it will be a game time decision. THE PLATE UMPIRE MAKES THE FINAL CALL to proceed with the game. Umpires are trained to assess safety risk of wet fields. This is the umpire's decision, not a CSLL decision.
2. County fields (Blue Ball, Brommer Park) — the county website will state if the fields are closed or open. If not, at the entrance to each facility there will be a sign that states if the fields are closed. If County has closed the fields, please do not use. Only the County has the power to open and close these fields. In the event one of these fields have been assessed, CSLL website will be updated.
3. Soquel School District (Soquel Elementary, Main Street, Santa Cruz Gardens) and Mountain School fields — To verify the conditions of these fields, someone must physically going out and walk the fields. These fields will be at the Manager’s discretion to check and verify the fields are playable. In the event one of these fields have been assessed, CSLL website will be updated.
Do not play on fields if:
A. If the fields have standing water, it is a pretty good chance that the field is too wet to play on.
B. If you walk on field and you start to sink in
If you need to work on field to make them playable:
A. First do not use speed dry unless instructed to do so. Speed dry can wreck the fields and does not work with standing water. Speed dry is used to draw moisture out of the ground to help firm up the fields.
B. Removing standing water Use a rake to push the water out of the puddle. Please do not create a bigger problem by pulling the dirt or mud out of the puddle. This will create a hole in which during the next rain event just makes the situation even worse. The best is to go to the maintenance shed (golf cart shed) and there are absorbent pads in there. Use these pads to absorb all the water. You will need to wring them out after each time they fill up. When finished put them back in the shed. They are re-usable and they are expensive.
DO NOT THROW AWAY THE ABSORBENT PADS!
C. Just a reminder that whatever you do, do not make the fields worse. We could lose the fields for a long period of time.
If you decide to use the field:
1. Be sure that once you are done with the field that you drag the field so the field is not left with ruts. If it is too wet to take the golf cart out there, then you need to hand drag the field or rack out the areas played on. Please rack, pack and do general repair work around the home plate area.
Please remember that we are playing on Soquel High school’s fields. We have an agreement with SHS use these fields. If we leave them worse than we found them we could be asked to leave. Don’t be the cause.
Please remember that the safety of our players always comes first.