The St. Joseph Baseball and Softball Association is planning to build an indoor sports facility at Eaton Park in St. Joseph Township. Group President Ryan Strain tells us the roughly 7,000 square foot facility will enable local baseball and softball teams to host more games. The idea came up when the association was formed.
“We recognized pretty quickly that we don’t have any kind of facility that’s capable of doing the things we need to do, like holding clinics, simple things like trying on uniforms and having parent meetings,” Strain said. “But larger than that, being able to practice year-round.”
Strain says a new field house at the park will include space for practices.
“Long-term, throughout the spring, it’ll be full turf with AstroTurf on the inside so we can do all of the drills that we need to. It’ll be lined with infields for baseball and softball, all the dimensions based on the age. It’ll have batting cages.”
The field house will also house technology like sensors for the bats and balls. The cost for the new facility is estimated at $200,000, and Strain says the association has found some private donors who have put up a lot of it. Anyone else who wants to contribute should reach out to the St. Joseph Baseball and Softball Association. The St. Joseph Township Board of Trustees this week granted the association a ten-year lease for the building. The association will pay to construct it, but then the township will own it. Strain says they hope to break ground this year.
