Angels Give Prep Field Major Boost

El Modena High School baseball players will get to play where the grass is greener after receiving 10,000 square feet of sod from the Anaheim Angels, thanks to the efforts of baseball booster club members and Mike Parker and Kathy Sanada.

“It’s not your average field,” Parker said. “Not a lot of high schools have Angels Stadium grass.”

About 7,400 square feet of the sod was used to renovate El Modena’s infield and the rest was laid behind some bleachers as a picnic area.

Parker began talking to the Angels in October after he and Sanada, his girlfriend, who has a son who plays baseball at El Modena and another son who will be attending the high school next year, met Angels center fielder Jim Edmonds. Edmonds told them about Angels Care, a nonprofit organization.

After numerous inquiries, Parker got a call about the sod Feb. 17 and he and Sanada spent the next few hours finding people who could pick it up from the stadium, level the old field and put it in place.

Two days later, the bright green grass was installed and looked considerably different than the outfield, which is bumpy and uneven.

The renovation would have cost the booster club $12,000, Parker said, but instead about $3,000 was spent on labor.

Matt Bennett, Anaheim Angels manager of community relations, said the Angels are pleased to share their resources with schools. It just so happened that the sod, which the Angels had recently acquired, did not meet their specifications.

Steve Bernard, El Modena’s baseball coach, said replacing the infield was a priority and he was appreciative of Parker’s persistence.

“This guy was awesome. The way he got this done was amazing,” Bernard said. “Every booster club should have one of these guys.”

The El Modena Vanguards baseball team will practice on the new infield for the first time Tuesday.

“Our kids take pride in the facility. It just adds to that pride,” Bernard said. “This is a centerpiece of the campus. Now you have something that is comparable to one of the better facilities in the area.”

Parker, who plays in a 30-and-older baseball league, and other booster members will continue to seek donations and raise funds to replace the netting on the backstop, buy a tractor-mower and attain more sod to put along the dugouts, behind home plate, and eventually the outfield.

“I just want to try to make [the field] cool,” Parker said. “Nothing has felt better than being able to help the community like this.”

Marissa Espino can be reached at (714) 966-5879