San Jose

South Bay High School Baseball Team Can't Play at Home Due to ‘Dangerous' Field

The baseball field at Overfelt High School in San Jose has numerous potholes and uneven playing surfaces

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Its field is in such bad shape, a South Bay high school baseball team is forced to play all of its home games away.

From large outfield holes to uneven playing surfaces, the players at Overfelt High School in San Jose say their field causes injuries.

"It's dangerous," Overfelt baseball coach Miguel "Chief" Esparza said. "The worst I’ve ever seen the Overfelt baseball field."

Esparza limits practices on the field due to the conditions.

"Many people have been injured because of potholes and stuff," pitcher Adolfo Garcia said.

Esparza made the difficult decision to cancel all home games because it became too risky for the players. That means the Royals play all of their games at other schools within the district.

"Not fun at all," outfielder Oscar Torres said. "Wish we could play some games here."

This year, Overfelt did get new fencing, a new scoreboard and a new backstop, but not a new field.

Principal Vito Chiala said the money just wasn't there.

"I think it’s unfortunate that public education gets put in a position where we don’t have the funds to provide the facilities that our students need," he said.

The players said they're using some East San Jose grit this season. Even without a home field, the Royals are still 5-3 in league play.

"We just go out there and play no matter where we’re at," infielder Martin Moreno said. "We just go out there, play hard, play our game."

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