Baseball: A field of dreams grows at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame [Video]

There’s a field of dreams taking shape at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, where a new $3-million baseball stadium is nearing completion, and when the painting is finally finished, the nets are up and the all-weather turf is firmly in place, it will be hard to find a better high school baseball facility.

“It’s all kind of coming to fruition,” Notre Dame baseball Coach Tom Dill said Thursday after giving me a tour of the new facility.

The stadium is set to be unveiled for the Notre Dame alumni game on Feb. 22, but Dill and his players are already getting excited. The lights and most of the new structure are up, and it’s now just about completing a process that has gone incredibly fast, and Dill credits his school’s president and board of directors for making it happen.

Dennis Dugan, the father of former Notre Dame outfielder Kelly Dugan, also played a key role in designing the facility and using his skills as a Hollywood director to create a baseball facility that will be so fan and player friendly that people won’t want to leave.

From a new parking area in right field that allows fans to simply turn off Riverside Drive and walk directly to the field, to stadium seating for 250 behind home plate, to wheelchair access, to locker rooms and an umpire changing room, to a fancy press box and concession stand, nothing has been left to chance.

There will be cameras everywhere and the possibility of live Web streaming. The only dirt will be found on the pitching mound. The rest will be FieldTurf. Also being built adjacent to the field is a new pool.

Notre Dame has been well-known for its quality teams and players. It produced Cy Young Award winner Jack McDowell and current major leaguers Giancarlo Stanton and Brendan Ryan.

The stadium couldn’t come at a better time, because the Mission League this spring will be loaded with top teams and players. Harvard-Westlake is the defending Southern Section Division 1 champion. Loyola has three Pac-12-bound pitchers. Alemany has lots of top young players. Ditto for Chaminade, Crespi and Notre Dame. And St. Francis is trying to get back into the competitive groove.

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com