By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
The home opener for the Great Bend Bat Cats is Thursday, June 8 as the summer collegiate baseball team will welcome the Hutchinson Monarchs at Al Burns Memorial Field.
More improvements to the ballfield inside Veterans Memorial Park seem to be happening all the time. The largest addition towering behind the leftfield fence is a new scoreboard.
Bat Cats General Manager Roger Ward has more
facility upgrades in mind after the organization was recently selected as the
recipient of $10,000 in donations from 100+ People That Care of Barton County.
"We've got plenty of expenses at the facility," said Ward. "We want to keep it all local and put it into the facility. I usually bite off more than I can chew with upgrades. This donation will help with a lot of that. You'll see improvements sprinkled around. What a blessing that was."
Ward anticipates adding more steps and railing to the grandstand, improving the
concession stands, adding digital signage, placing padding along the backstop and
getting better audio equipment for the press box. An on-field microphone for the National Anthem is also an area of need.
This summer marks the seventh year for
the Bat Cats organization, and Ward hopes the revival of Al Burns Field opens
the facility to more events, including high school baseball showcases.
"This summer we're bring the Jayhawk League Home Run Derby and All-Star game to Great Bend," said Ward. "It's never been hosted anywhere but Wichita State University. We're bringing that to our community and that's a tribute to the facility upgrades. Also the older Bombers Baseball team will have some of their games here."
The Thursday game against Hutchinson begins at 7 p.m. As always, admission is
free to all home Bat Cats games.
To learn more about the Great Bend Bat Cats, please visit their website at greatbendbatcats.com and be sure to like and follow the organization’s Facebook page.