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Baseball and softball fields across Horry County鈥檚 high schools are about to get a major facelift.

Phase six of the Horry County Schools鈥� athletic improvements will kick off this summer, a phase that is heavily focused on improving the playing surfaces and fan and athlete experiences at local baseball and softball fields.

Several key upgrades are taking place on all diamonds across the district this summer, starting at Aynor and Conway high schools' facilities.

Jason Cox, HCS district athletic director, said that the facelifts are happening through 2029 and will feature roughly two schools having facilities renovated at a time.

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Among the major upgrades are updating irrigation systems that will be standard across the district. Drainage for local high school baseball and softball fields has been a consistent problem 鈥� especially in the early spring months. The new plan will include an extensive underdrain system to alleviate those concerns and improve surfaces鈥� playability in the rain.

All district fields will have new raised, stadium-like bleacher seating that will be three and a half feet off the ground. In most cases, the bleacher systems will hug the backstop. Cox said there will be about 500 seats for the Class 5A schools in the county, approximately 400 seats for the 3A schools and roughly 300 for 1A Green Sea Floyds. The new systems will also feature ADA accessibility.

Aynor Athletic Director Josh Spivey said the improvements are a welcomed sight for their community.

鈥淥ur viewing experience for fans is going to be so much more improved for baseball and softball,鈥� Spivey said. 鈥淭he netted backstop, instead of a chainlink fence, and the elevated stadium-style bleachers 鈥� the fan experience is going to be so much more enhanced moving forward.

鈥淭he vision and commitment that our district has for athletics is just so awesome. We get support top to bottom, starting with our facilities department with the vision they have and the work they put in. And then all the way up to the school board with approving and providing the funding. It鈥檚 unmatched support from top to bottom, and it shows how invested our district is in our student-athletes.鈥�

Several press box, concession stand and bathroom demolitions and renovations are planned throughout the district, including at both Conway and Aynor in this first year of the project. Both Aynor and Conway softball will be receiving new press boxes. There will also be new bathroom and concession stand areas at both schools across the athletic complexes.

Backstop systems, which will be netted, are also being upgraded.

There will be no more chain link fences for backstops across the county, improving sight lines for fans. The new design is a tieback system, which means there will be no poles in spectator views.

Fence lines 鈥� from the dugouts down the foul lines and through the outfield 鈥� will also be improved and replaced across the district. There will be new 30-foot foul poles at all locations. Currently, some fields have just a metal pole designating the fair/foul outfield boundary.

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Other improvements, like bullpen upgrades, cosmetic dugout work and new covered batting cage tunnels will be a part of this phase of improvements.

鈥淭his is exciting for our whole community,鈥� Conway Athletic Director Anthony Carroll said. 鈥ㄢ�淲e鈥檙e excited and so appreciative for all the work that everyone at the district office and on the school board is putting in to helping us be able to upgrade these facilities. We鈥檙e super excited.

鈥淚 think the community is going to love it. They are going to be able to come and watch baseball, softball, football, soccer, all of those games in a complex that is first-class and one of the top around.鈥�

Cox echoed the statements of Spivey and Carroll, noting that the buy-in from the school board and Superintendent Clifford Jones has been vital to the project moving forward.

Improvements at Aynor and Conway are projected to begin July 15.

In 2026, Carolina Forest and Green Sea Floyds will be up for improvements. St. James and Myrtle Beach are set to be up in 2027. In 2028, Loris baseball/softball and Socastee softball will be upgraded, followed by North Myrtle Beach baseball/softball and Socastee baseball in 2029.