Local nonprofit finds and fundraises new baseball field

Bigfork baseball has found a new home.  

Last spring, Bigfork’s baseball teams lost access to the field at Bear Creek following an increase in insurance requirements for the landowner.  

“Really, the search for land started at that point,” Bigfork Youth Baseball Association board member and high school liaison Seth Campbell said.  

Losing the field happened to coincide with Bigfork High School baseball’s inaugural season. As a result, students practiced indoors and were bussed to Kalispell for “home games.” Even without a home field, the team had a strong first season.  

“Our baseball program started out last year for the first year with one junior, all of the rest were freshman and sophomores,” Campbell explained. “They missed the state playoffs by one game, lost by one run to get into the state playoffs. It’s a very young team and a very competitive team...we’ve got good interest and good numbers from Little League through high school.” 

Baseball is a partially funded sport at Bigfork High School, the district supports coaches’ pay and MHSA fees, but the rest is up to the team. The BYBA steps in to support the high school program, as well as Little League and Babe Ruth.  

As part of that support, BYBA was on the lookout for a new field space. They found it at Saint John Paul II Catholic Church on Coverdell Road.  

“Ironically, the church reached out to us the same day we had them on the schedule to talk to them,” Campbell said.  

The field, between the church and Rising Mountains Assisted Living, has a sweeping view of the mountains and room to build. BYBA started leasing the land from the Roman Catholic Bishop of Helena Oct. 1 and got straight to work.  

Labor and materials have been donated throughout the project, with contributors LHC, Young Bucks Irrigation, Doepker Landscape, Flathead Valley Sod Farm, Montana Fence, and SJW Land Surveying.  

Fencing, sod and irrigation are largely completed. The hope is to have the field playable by April 14 so the teams can start practice in their own space. Phase II of construction will add things like a concessions stand, storage and batting cages.   

Local Bigforker Dan Purcell has been a leader in fundraising efforts and land acquisition.  

“Purcell has been a critical part of this project,” Campbell said. Donations big and small are being tallied from a variety of donors. 

However, BYBA estimates another $75,000 is still needed.  

“We can only spend the money we’ve raised so far; we still have a way to go on some of those projects,” Campbell said.  

The field has a 10-year lease, and with ongoing operating expenses, ongoing fundraising will be done by BYBA. The Field Build Project can be donated to online at https://fieldbuild.squarespace.com.  

BYBA hopes the new field will be something the community can be proud of, with more accessibility for viewers and a regulation field for the players.  

“It’s a community-based project, and the interest in baseball has been growing so much that these kids are very excited about it. I know a lot of the parents and grandparents and community members, there are just a lot of baseball fans out here that are very excited that we have more options than just the legion programs now,” Campbell said.