Alford Field recognized with National Award

Alford Field at HCHS has been recognized with a national Field Maintenance Award (Photo: Trent Bianco/HCHS)

(Franklin, GA) — The 2018-19 ABCA/Turface Athletics Field Maintenance Award and Scholarships have been announced in both the college and high school divisions and Alford Field on the campus of Heard County High School has been named as a national honoree.

Presented by Turface and the ABCA since 1995, the Field Maintenance Award recipients receive a plaque recognizing excellence in field maintenance, plus one ton of Turface MVP and $400 to be spent on maintenance equipment from Turface Athletics.

Brave head baseball coach and primary caretaker to the field Trent Bianco says the award is a tremendous honor and signifies many hours of hard work from both coaches and players.

“At Heard County High School we’re very fortunate to have a lot of people that care about our facilities,” says Bianco. “We have five coaches and a program full of players that are constantly putting in countless hours to maintain and constantly improve our field. We try to make improvements to our playing surface each and every year and we did that this year when we laser graded our infield.”

This is not the first time the field and program have been recognized — Alford Field has won the Georgia Dugout Club Field of the Year in Class AA twice in the past five years.

“Our players, coaches, and community take a lot of pride in knowing that our facility is one of the very best in the entire state,” Bianco adds. “We’re very fortunate to have a very supportive administration and community that take just as much pride in our facilities as our coaches and players do.”

The Braves still have a few things on their wish list but are very happy with how far things have come and excited about where things are going for the future of the facility and the program.

Coach Bianco will accept the award on Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019 at the 75th annual ABCA Convention in Dallas, TX.