Free State High won’t be leaving town for its season baseball opener Friday, but the Firebirds won’t be playing at home.

Instead of inaugurating their refurbished field, Free State will play host to Blue Valley Northwest at Ice Field in Holcom Complex. Game time has been switched from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. because of the Kansas-North Dakota State NCAA Tournament game.

Work on Free State’s new diamond is nearly finished and coach Mike Hill is hopeful the facility, now with artificial turf, will be available for next Tuesday’s game against Lenexa St. James.

Hill considers the shift to Ice Field a minor distraction.

“Knowing what we’re getting here in the next week or two, it’s well worth it,” said Hill, who is also Free State’s athletic director. “In the final analysis, we’re going to have one of the nicest high school baseball fields in the country when this is all done.”

So, too, will Lawrence High, but the Lions will have to wait until next spring to use their new baseball layout.

In fact, completion of all of the new LHS facilities likely will have to wait until the 2009-10 season.

“It was pretty apparent early this school year that we weren’t going to see any competition on any of our new fields this spring,” LHS athletic director Ron Commons said.

That’s not to say progress isn’t being made.

Commons said turf installation at the baseball, football, softball and soccer fields is nearly finished. When the work is complete, the Lions’ spring sports teams likely will be able to conduct some practices at their new digs.

Commons said one game — the May 14 girls soccer match against Free State — would be played on campus. But whether that’s on the new soccer field or the new football field — where the turf installation has been completed — remains to be seen.

Both Commons and Hill expect work on the seating as well as the concession areas and restrooms at each school’s new football field to begin sometime this spring.

As for Free State’s facilities, Hill said the process to add turf to the existing soccer complex would begin sometime in April.

Also, Free State’s girls soccer team will play all of its home games on the football field. Meanwhile, work to add turf to the softball field will begin shortly after the season concludes in May.