TN to spend season on the road

PACIFICA – The Terra Nova Tigers begin the new baseball season without a home.

A renovation to the school’s athletic facilities is woefully behind schedule, meaning the Tigers begin a new baseball season on Thursday at Archbishop Riordan ranked in PeninsulaPrepBaseball.com’s Sweet 16 but without the field they’ve called home since the 1960s.

Sure, when it’s completed, Terra Nova will have a state-of-the-art diamond with artificial turf and lights, but that field won’t make its debut until the 2026 season.

Work continues on the $11.5 million project, which was generated by a 2020 school bond, Measure Z, and also includes replacements for the swimming pool and gym at Jefferson High School in Daly City and was officially approved by the district’s board of trustees last June.

It's created a season-long challenge for the Tigers, but don’t expect coach Jared Milch to allow his team to pout about it. On days without rain, they are practicing at Pacific Bay Christian School — a private school just a few miles away — while also using the TN football field, which has an artificial surface.

This week, the Terra Nova administration officially pulled the plug on a home schedule this year.

How that impacts the Tigers, who figure to be competitive in the Peninsula Athletic League’s Ocean Division, remains to be seen.

“We just have to go in with a no-excuses type of mindset,” Milch said. “We’re go in with that underdog mindset and use that to our advantage.”

The complex will feature a varsity baseball field, a softball field and an auxiliary field for youth sports. A high school-regulated soccer field will also be included in the 220,000-square-foot project.

Despite the delays, there is excitement about the program’s future and eventually the Tigers' new home field.

“We’ve played on dirt fields our entire life here in Pacifica and just seeing our high school get the first change is just really big and just super” said Terra Nova junior Cooper Santamato.

Playing night baseball also appeals to the Tigers.

“I’ve never even played a night game before, under the lights,” said Giovanni DeFilippis, a junior at Terra Nova. “I’m sure it’ll be so cool.”

—Steven Rissotto