Imagine you’re in the bottom of the seventh inning, your team needs one more out to win the game and a seemingly routine popup goes toward right field. As you go to make the play, the ground under you starts to rise, and you helplessly watch the ball fall as you are lying on the school’s infamous right field hill.
The school’s baseball field is known for its unique right field hill, making it harder to hit home runs that way and make plays on deep fly balls. The question is, is this a home field advantage? “I have gotten much better at catching balls on the hill. I think it is a home field advantage because we know how it plays and are aware it is there,” senior outfielder and football player Justin Karis said.
On the other hand, the varsity team only has three lefty hitters, senior Wes Greenberg, junior Tyler Seigel and junior Paul Weiner, so it is rare that balls get hit that far to an opposing player. Additionally, no matter how much practice you get on the hill, it is still likely that they will fall. “I don’t think it is a home field advantage because the number of balls that get hit up there are slim to none,” varsity head coach JD Marchand said.
Other Montgomery County baseball fields have unique features, like Quince Orchard’s lack of a fence and trees that are in play, and Damascus’s distinctive fence, which is 390 feet down the line to the left but only 310 feet in center field. But the question is do these unique features help baseball teams win games?
Athletic director Al Lightsey thinks being at home is an advantage regardless of the field features. “I think being at home is a big advantage because you don’t have to get everybody together and players tend to be more comfortable at home,” Lightsey said.
In the MLB last year, home teams won 56% of the time. Factors like batting last and having a home crowd can make a difference in a game. Marlins second baseman Luis Arraez led the MLB with a 354 batting average, batting 376 at home but it dips down to 328 when playing on the road. “I think it is a big advantage playing at home because we have more fans cheering us on,” Karis said.
In basketball, being in your home gym is an advantage because of elements like the lighting in the gym and schools with big gyms such as Gaithersburg. “In basketball little things like the lighting in the gym or size of the backdrop behind the hoop can give the home team a big advantage in games,” Lightsey said.
In football, a difference between fields is that some players prefer to have grass while some players prefer turf. Playing on your preferred surface can help teams win games. “I prefer grass because it looks much better than turf and has a more natural feel to it,” Seigel said.
