Re: Who has the best complex in the state ? ?
Boardman - Have to agree on the Boardman votes as my #1 - have played there a lot over the past several years. Great fields, two of them perfect for softball with great dimensions, scoreboards, nice views, sideline fence not precisely at that annoying "eye" level (it's below). Hard fast fields, tarps, and they can take water well.
I digress, but, I also really like the food - great variety, a grill going for fresh burgers, home cut fries .... a little like a softball carnival with games going on in every square inch of dirt & grass, and the smell of vinegar fires in the air. Parking could use a little work, I am always thankful when I have successfully slithered through that "tight" lot. I ALWAYS look forward to playing there.
Marysville & Massillon - very nice also from a hospitality and venue point of view. Love it when you can watch 4 games at once, pretty easily, from a central location. Problem with these two is that you are constantly dodging foul balls as a spectator. Marysville has a hard fast field also, which I like compared with the sand pits you find at some places.
Beekman - by far the nicest & most plush fields, expertly groomed - have witnessed Stingray's parents & coaches crawling on all four limbs at times trying to make it perfect before a game. Just a difficult venue for logistics, parking, etc. But a beautiful park which I always look forward to visiting, once I am parked and the gear, cooler, family (etc) is at the field for the day. But, when I am in the parking lot, I feel like the early settlers must have felt figuring a route to use for the wagon train to get to some distant destination, and then relying on faith, hope, and determination that most of my family will survive the journey, and that we will eventually link up with others "like us". ?;D ?
