Improvements have been made at Walt Anderson Field in Rippey as it begins a slate of high school sanctioned baseball games for this season.

Kevin Hick is with the Rippey Baseball Commission and says the Greene County Community Foundation gave them $4,768 toward those improvements, as he describes the most important project that was recently completed.

“And when you come out to see the ballpark you’ll notice, the one big difference is that we got concrete poured around the concession stand and in between the concession stand to the grandstand. It’ll make a world of difference. It was getting to the point where it was becoming unsafe and we were able to use money from the grant to get that done.”

Hick notes the other project was updating the grandstands with replacing some of the wood that was in disrepair. 

Additionally, with the annual Rippey Ruckus behind them, Hick points out that the Rippey Baseball Commission is continuing to host high school baseball games that are sanctioned through the Iowa High School Athletic Association. He explains the behind-the-scenes negotiations happen to make these games beneficial for everyone.

“We tell them this right up front and how it works is that the high school teams already have their umpires scheduled for the whole season. And so we tell them, ‘You bring your umpires, you won’t charge you to use our field, but the Rippey Baseball Commission gets the admission gate and the concession stand (purchases). And oh my gosh, it’s been a godsend for us.”

Tomorrow’s game is a doubleheader between Webster City and Urbandale with the first pitch slated for noon and the second game approximate start time is 2pm. Hick appreciates the grant funding from the Greene County Community Foundation to help with maintenance of the field. Click here to find out when more high school games may happen at Walt Anderson Field