By BUTCH HARMON
After years of playing both the baseball and softball state finals at Bailey Park in Battle Creek, the Michigan High School Athletic Association has moved them to a new stage, as they will now be played at Michigan State University.
A vote by the Representative Council of the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) at its annual meeting authorized the move of the baseball and softball finals to Michigan State University beginning this spring. The move ends 24 years of softball and baseball finals being held in Battle Creek.
“We are pleased to have had the opportunity to play our Finals at Bailey Park for the last 24 seasons, and grateful to the athletic directors, additional staff and volunteers who annually helped make our events an impressive showcase,” MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts said in a press release. “We’ve reached a time now when many of our college facilities have been upgraded, and we have many more options to consider for our Finals than we did decades ago. We believe Michigan State University offers us the best situation and an opportunity to continue playing our Finals for both sports at adjacent venues.”
The baseball finals will be played at McLane Baseball Stadium at Kobs Field, while the softball finals will be played at Peter F. Seccia Stadium at Old College Field.
“We’ve been getting a lot of feedback from the baseball and softball coaches association about looking for other venues for the baseball and softball finals,” said MHSAA assistant director Mark Uyl. “Battle Creek has served us very well for a long, long time, and there are some great people in Battle Creek.
“At Michigan State, you’ve got identical, brand-new, side-by-side baseball/softball facilities centrally located. They are million-dollar college facilities. We are playing the finals at the best venue possible. We considered all the other options and ultimately decided to move to Michigan State University.”
With the move to Michigan State, the MHSAA is also going to change the way the finals take place. Instead of cramming all eight final games and 16 semifinal games into a two-day window, the finals will be spread over three days as a way to showcase the event. The semifinals will take place on Thursday and Friday, similar to the basketball semifinals, with two divisions playing on Thursday and the other divisions playing on Friday. All four championship games will take place on Saturday and give baseball or softball fans the ability to view all the games at one location.
“We are going to a three-day tournament, and by having one game at a time, we are able to showcase each game,” Uyl said. “We will have all four of our championship games on Saturday.”
Michigan State’s facilities will also be able to deal with rain delays better than the facilities in Battle Creek. With only one softball and baseball field being used, a tarp can be immediately used to cover the field, unlike in Battle Creek, where there were two baseball diamonds and four softball diamonds.
Parking will also be plentiful, as the lots at The Breslin Center and Spartan Stadium are only a few minutes walk to the baseball and softball fields.