Field of dreams for Wahine softball team

One player knelt down to feel the cinders in her fingers.

Another rubbed a tentative toe along the seam of the turf and infield as if afraid to leave a scuff.

“You guys can walk on the field,” Hawaii assistant softball coach Kaulana Gould assured them.

“It’s just so pretty,” sophomore catcher Callee Heen replied from behind home plate as a group of teammates wandered toward the “H” logo embedded in center field.

Soon enough the Wahine were immersed in fielding grounders off the refurbished infield and tracking fly balls on the artificial turf outfield in their first practice on the literal centerpiece of a $3.4 million renovation at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

“This has been a long time coming,” senior pitcher Brittany Hitchcock said before Tuesday’s practice. “Ever since I was being recruited here Coach Bob (Coolen) would mention wanting to make improvements to the field. So I’m kind of lucky I got to be here five years to be able to get to see this happen at all.

“Just to be out here and take it all in is a special moment.”

No doubt for Coolen as well.

Ever the perfectionist, Coolen, entering his 27th year as head coach, was busy watering the infield or sweeping the dirt off the turf as the players arrived to their updated digs.

“This puts us in the top two stadiums in our conference,” Coolen said. “(UH) and (Cal State) Fullerton will have the nicest stadiums in regards to stands, the numbers of fans, the playing surface and it’s just going to elevate our recruiting.

“No. 1, (recruits) want to go to a nice facility. No. 2, they want to go to a competitive program and No. 3, they want to be able to compete against the best, and we do all of those and we have the opportunity with this being built for us.”

The project began on June 30. In the interim, the Wahine held their fall exhibition tournament at McKinley High School and practiced up the street at Mid-Pacific Institute and across Lower Campus Road at Les Murakami Stadium to get a feel for playing on turf.

“It’s been pretty hard going to the baseball field and going to Mid-Pac and transportation and just not being able to be on your field and having to play in less than a month now,” junior third baseman Nicole Lopez said. “It’s going to be exciting.”

Lopez was among the first to test the infield comprised of Big Island cinders, sand and topsoil, and the outfielders will no longer deal with “the snake,” sharp groundballs that would bound left or right through the grain of the grass.

“The outfield was starting to get a little bit of a moonscape and that was a concern of mine because of the injury factor,” Coolen said.

“It’s just going to create an atmosphere where they’ll be able to go all-out and not worry about stepping in a divot.”

The stadium also received a new paint job, and while the field was opened for use on Tuesday, several other aspects of the renovation are yet to be completed. Padding still will be installed on the outfield fence and backstop, and protective netting will be extended to the ends of the grandstands to shield fans from line drives and pedestrians outside the stadium from foul balls. The nets beyond the outfield protecting the neighboring tennis courts are expected to be installed by the end of the week.

The work is scheduled to be completed in time for an exhibition doubleheader with Josai (Tokyo) on Feb. 11. They’ll open the season with tournaments in Las Vegas and Los Angeles before making their home debut on Feb. 28 against California in the Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament.