March 28, 2024 Local Stories in and Around St. Joseph, Illinois

Groundbreaking takes place at new baseball field

A ground breaking ceremony took place this week at the new home of the Royal Giants and the St. Joseph-Ogden Baseball team.


An anonymous donor is building a baseball field for the Royal Giants of the
Eastern Illinois Baseball League and has asked if the SJO baseball team would like to play home games at the facility, SJO school board member Les Hoveln said.


Hoveln said if everything goes well with weather and construction the new field could be open by early July.


Hoveln has acted as an intermediary between the school district and the donor. After spending years looking for land in the Royal area, the donor finally found land across from Salt Fork Paintball and the Pioneer Seed plant on Route 150 in St. Joseph for sale and is moving forward with the project.


The field will not have lights initially, but lights could be added at a later date. It will have restroom and concession areas along with storage facilities.


Hoveln said the donor was open to the high school team using the field as their home field in exchange for the district helping with the continued maintenance of the field. Hoveln estimated that cost would be below $2,000 a month.


The grass infield and outfield will be fully irrigated and the facility will have grass parking.


Some discussions have included moving Randy Wolken Field, SJO’s home softball venue, to where the current baseball field is located. The donor has also told the school that if they wanted to relocate the softball field to the new location, at their own cost, he would be open to that, Hoveln said.
 Hoveln said they plan on laying the water and electrical that is necessary to house two fields at the location in the event the school would want to do that.  The softball field would be located to the west of the baseball field.  When the project was being permitted, they included a softball field in case the district would want to pursue that option.


The donor will maintain the ownership of the property, but there would be an agreement in place that the Spartans and the Giants have a place to play as long as they want to and nothing can change that deal.

Banner
Related Posts

Ingram shines, but SJO football still seeking first win

September 17, 2021

September 17, 2021

Six wins are needed to automatically qualify a high school football team into the playoffs in Illinois. For St. Joseph-Ogden...

Hamilton, relay team place first at conference meet for Spartans

May 2, 2019

May 2, 2019

The intensity of a postseason meet is right around the corner for the St. Joseph-Ogden High School girls’ track and...

‘Genuine excitement’ for SJO football heading into 2019 season

August 29, 2019

August 29, 2019

Lofty expectations are attached to the St. Joseph-Ogden High School football team every year. This season is no different for...

Scholarship honors, remembers Dick Duval: ‘His legend will live on in St. Joe’

October 5, 2021

October 5, 2021

If you want to know who Dick Duval truly was, all you have to do is ask St. Joseph-Ogden Superintendent...

Spartans learn postseason foe, lose close game at Charleston

May 2, 2019

May 2, 2019

Playing for the first time in a week after inclement weather caused multiple postponements, the St. Joseph-Ogden High School baseball...

McCune accomplishes personal goal

May 14, 2021

May 14, 2021

At the beginning of his sophomore track season at University of Illinois-Springfield, St. Joseph-Ogden graduate Isiah McCune had a goal...

Coursey, Rose help carry SJO baseball into regional title game

May 18, 2019

May 18, 2019

All hands are on deck come Saturday morning for the St. Joseph-Ogden High School baseball team. With postseason hardware at...

SJO girls’ basketball wins sectional title, advances to Elite Eight

February 15, 2019

February 15, 2019

The St. Joseph-Ogden High School girls’ basketball team waited more than a decade to give the program another sectional title....

Vallee, Burnett lead SJO volleyball to superb spring

April 9, 2021

April 9, 2021

Playing a flurry of matches in a short amount of time hasn’t hindered the St. Joseph-Ogden volleyball program. The Spartans...

Commitment pays off for Mattsey

December 10, 2019

December 10, 2019

St. Joseph-Ogden Junior Brandon Mattsey is a leader. That is why his cross country coach Jason Retz, nominated him for...

Behrens, Vallee help Spartans continue strong start

February 11, 2021

February 11, 2021

So far, so good for the St. Joseph-Ogden girls’ basketball team. The Spartans made the short drive to Champaign on...

Weaver, Miller help SJO football stay unbeaten

September 10, 2019

September 10, 2019

A close game in the fourth quarter ended the way the St. Joseph-Ogden High School football team wanted last Friday...

Hamilton, relay team win state titles as Spartans place third

May 21, 2019

May 21, 2019

Bringing state trophies home isn’t an easy task. But the St. Joseph-Ogden High School girls’ track and field team sure...

SJO girls’ basketball looks to bounce back against Tuscola

November 29, 2021

November 29, 2021

Playing the Paris girls’ basketball team is always a challenge, with the Tigers as one of the premier small-school programs...

Spartans ready to ‘respond better’ in playoff opener at Williamsville

October 28, 2019

October 28, 2019

Jaden Miller is glad he gets another opportunity to play football. Ditto for Blake Dable. And the other St. Joseph-Ogden...

Comments
Leave a Reply