Bigfork Baseball Celebrates New Field in Winning Fashion

Mixed in with all the excitement on Thursday, there were some nerves for members of the Bigfork Vikings baseball team. Just two days earlier they had stepped onto their new field for the first time, and now they had their first ever home game at the freshly cut diamond of dirt and grass off Coverdell Road.

Everyone wanted to be the first to do something, junior Hayden Mayer admitted afterwards. For the starting pitcher, junior Grady Campbell, he was guaranteed to throw out the first in-game pitch, not long after his grandfather, Dan Purcell, a longtime Bigfork Youth Baseball Association volunteer, threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Purcell grumbled beforehand that his rotator cuff was torn, but he grimaced and threw a ball dead center, albeit a couple feet shy of home plate, after Bigfork Youth Baseball Association President Nathan Mayer delivered some opening remarks and honored Purcell with a custom monogramed home plate and a gallon bucket of sunflower seeds. Campbell also skipped his last warmup pitch into the dirt. But when the first batter from Troy stepped into the box, there were no such issues as the ball sailed in and was hit back up the middle to an infielder whose hands briefly betrayed him. A runner was on, but the next pitch from Campbell was a strike, and things got better and better for the Bigfork ball club from there on.

The Vikings cracked the game open in the third inning, scoring five runs, and putting themselves on track to win in the bottom of the sixth by invocation of the 10-run rule after they managed to stretch their lead to 13-3. Bigfork tallied eight hits, with RBIs from Liam Benson, Sam Plummer, Hayden Mayer, Grady Campbell, Mason Lewis (2), Ryder Hamilton and Holland Jantzen. The win put the Vikings at 5-2 on the season.

It was a cold day, with the windchill falling down into the low 40s, and the mountains in the distance wearing a fresh coat of snow. Heading into the fifth inning, there was even a brief, light round of snow.

Still, despite the number of blankets laid across laps, there were more baseball hats than winter caps worn by the dozens of people who came out to see the beginning of a new era for Bigfork baseball. Fans packed the small sets of bleachers, stood off to the side for a better view, or strategically positioned their lawn chairs, and a small but enthusiastic squad of elementary-aged players crouched along the fence line behind home plate where they were occasionally quizzed by their coaches on just what they would do if they were the runner on the bag.

The new field is called Flathead Beacon Field because of a donation from the local news organization. Beacon owner Maury Povich, whose father Shirley Povich was a longtime sports columnist at the Washington Post and once called baseball “the only pure sport,” said that the Beacon was “proud” it could contribute to the effort. “Of all sports, Bigfork kids should be able to enjoy our national pastime in their own backyard,” Povich said.

Thursday’s inaugural home game came just about a year after the now 2-year-old Bigfork varsity baseball team lost its home field, and was left commuting to ABS Park in Evergreen for home games while practicing in an indoor gym. Mayer, the BYBA president, said that the club reviewed 35 different possible landowners in an effort to find the club a new home, but it came down to a final chance at Saint John Paul II Catholic Church to get the “yes” they had been waiting for.

It sounds almost miraculous, but of course the whole thing came together because of grassroots support from throughout the community, as Mayer told the crowd before the game started. And he encouraged the younger baseball fans and prospective players in attendance to take a moment to picture themselves out on the field representing Bigfork.

“This program is for you guys, just as much as it’s for today’s varsity squad,” he said.

Just a day earlier, Mayer recalled in an interview with the Beacon what it’s been like to see the field become a reality.

“I was out watching the high school’s very first practice out on this field. I think it was two days ago, and the sun was shining. It was 68 degrees, and I found myself just smiling for no apparent reason. I was just watching baseball on a beautiful, sunny day here on this beautiful field, and I just couldn’t stop smiling,” Mayer said. “I was like, ‘I gotta go. I gotta get out of here.’ So I got in my car, and about 10 miles down the road, I realized I was still smiling.”

Smiling was something of a theme around the dugout after the game ended Thursday. Some people stayed to chat and savor the last of that home-opener feeling, while others headed home. Senior captain Liam Benson let loose a few grins as he talked about how he’s starting to get a handle on the way the ball bounces and reacts to the dirt and grass. He thinks it’ll pay off down the road in the form of a homefield advantages.

“I mean, it’s sweet to play on the field. It’s ours now,” Benson said. “We didn’t play our best game today, but that’s probably since we were stressed. You know, everybody’s watching us. But we’re good. We’ll show it later.”

Head Coach Dave Romano said that it’s his first time, including back in his playing days, that he’s gotten to be the very first one to play a game on a new baseball field. “It was nice to break it in with a W, that’s for sure. That always feels good,” Romano said.

He’s got a young team on his hands, with just two seniors and three juniors, but the coach said they’re a good, hard-working group and that they’re excited about the season.

Campbell, the starting pitcher, said that his dad, his grandfather, and countless other people worked to make it happen, and that it all felt surreal to finally get to play on the new field.

“It was such a cool experience to see how the community of Bigfork kind of came together,” Campbell said. “There’s people here who probably never watched or cared about a baseball game in their life, and they are our community. They really showed up for us.”

[email protected]