After spending their 2023 season playing all of their home games at the Historic Douglas Park, Rocky Baseball is back at their home field, and excited to get to play on their home turf again. This was because there was a tornado on April 4th, 2023, which left the outfield fence destroyed, resulting in the team moving to Douglas Park for the remainder of their season.
Playing at home is a feeling nothing can compare to. As the team would still practice on their home field during the week, they would have to constantly switch what field they played on for games, which was a lot harder than it sounds. As Head Baseball Coach, Jake Scudder, explains, “We have had a sense of comfort being able to play at our home field due to us practicing on it every day. Position players have an understanding of how the field plays. Last year, we rallied around playing all of our games off campus and on the road, but it has definitely been nice to be back.”
With the transition back to their home field, the team is happy to be back to defend their home turf, especially the seniors for their last season at the Rock. There are many benefits to playing at their home field, but many players have grown up playing at the Rocky field, so it means a lot to them to be able to play at Rocky for another season. Senior Varsity player, Jackson Bennett, can relate, as he recalls his favorite memory. Bennett says, “My favorite part about playing at Rocky has just been all the memories I’ve made there. Being ten-ish years old and being happy to just hit the ball out of the infield there during a hitting lesson, to hitting home runs in practice as a senior. It’s been really fun watching the field grow with me all these years.”
Although they are happy to be back at home, there are still aspects of playing at Douglas the team will miss. Scudder says, “Douglas is a historic park that the City and Friends of Douglas Park have put a lot of work into – we took great pride in being able to play on it, as we understood the history of the field. Luckily, we still have the opportunity to play on the field twice a year.” From a player’s standpoint, Bennett also will miss the feeling of playing at Douglas. Bennett says, “I felt like a lot more people came to the Douglas games too, part of that might have been our winning streak, but having a big crowd there to watch every game was always fun.”
As a year away from the Rocky field was an experience the team may not have been expecting, they were able to make the most of it, and it taught the team a lot. As Bennett says, “This year and last year, we just went out and played, not really caring who or where we played, as long as we could play. If anything, it taught us that not everything goes our way.” Having to change the location of their home games helped make the players more adaptable when changes were thrown their way, leading to a more successful season.
Now that the team is back in action at their home field, they are able to create lasting memories, bringing their baseball experience full circle as the 2024 season comes to a close.
