Columnist Spencer Patterson: Durango coach earns national honor for baseball field

Spencer Patterson

Thursday, Dec. 7, 2000 | 11:31 a.m.

Spencer Patterson's prep sports column appears Thursday. Reach him at 259-4085 or by e-mail at spencer@lasvegassun.com

Sitting aboard a lawn mower in the heat of the Las Vegas summer, Durango baseball coach Mike Gomez surely has questioned his sanity more than a few times over the years.

Last weekend, though, Gomez's dedication to maintaining and improving the Trailblazers' home field was rewarded with the ultimate honor: the National High School Baseball Coaches Association's award for the nation's top field.

Already selected as the District 7 Field of the Year, Durango's "The Yard" was named the National Field of the Year at a banquet in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday.

"I saw some photos of the other fields, and some of them were pretty dynamic," Gomez said. "That made me feel pretty proud of our facility."

Opened in the fall of 1993, Durango's ballpark has been steadily improved over the past seven years, thanks to the hard work of Gomez and several Trailblazer boosters.

"We've had a corps of parents that have put timeless hours into the field," Gomez said. "We call them the dream team -- John Kahr, Duane Johnson, Dave Kitchen and Rob Martinez. Those four guys have been part of the whole deal for the past seven years."

Equipped with a clubhouse, press box, automated scoreboard, concession area, public restrooms and a block wall enclosing the field, The Yard also has a reputation for housing one of Nevada's top playing surfaces -- a tribute to the long hours Gomez and company put in.

"It's a year-round deal, and in this climate, if you take a week off, the grass can be totally decimated," Gomez said.

Gomez said the ultimate plan calls for two more significant phases before the ballpark will be fully finished: the addition of an inning-by-inning scoreboard and a new raised bleacher system, complete with handicapped seating.

Two years after taking the helm for the Gators, Culver stepped down this week to pursue other coaching opportunities, both here in town and out-of-state. In two seasons at Green Valley, Culver compiled a 5-13 record, earning a playoff berth this past fall.

"We were down considerably when he arrived, and with his leadership and the rest of this staff, we were able to bring Green Valley football back to respectability, maybe not in wins and losses but in terms of running a good program," Gators athletic administrator Lee Koelliker said.

Green Valley joins Cheyenne, Cimarron-Memorial, Eldorado and Rancho as the fifth local 4A school searching for a new head coach, along with Class 3A's Boulder City and next year's two new 4A high schools.

Defending 4A state champion Cimarron-Memorial, Bonanza, Silverado, Western, Durango, Palo Verde, Basic, Eldorado, Clark, Las Vegas, Valley, Cheyenne and the host Gators will represent the Las Vegas-area, with defending event champion Highland (Ariz.) leading the pack of out-of-towners.

Competition begins today at 3:30 p.m. and continues Saturday, starting at 9 a.m. The finals are slated for 6 p.m. Saturday. Daily tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children and students.