GRANVILLE, W.Va. — North central West Virginia’s first professional baseball game has drawn a soldout crowd.
“It just shows the support right off the bat,” said Black Bears manager Wyatt Toregas. “From the team’s standpoint, we’re going to have to try to go out this weekend and show them why they need to keep coming back. We want to go out and play exciting baseball.”
The $21 million Monongalia County Ball Park, shared by the West Virginia University baseball team and the Single-A Black Bears, includes 2,500 seats and a capacity that approaches 4,000.
“The stadium is really nice as well the way it’s laid out. The seating bowl is probably my favorite part of the stadium,” said Ernie Galusky, the Black Bears assistant general manger. “All the seats are right on top of the action, right on top of the field.”
Players rolled into Morgantown days before the season opener against the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.
“The guys got off the bus the other day, the Black Bears, and were like ‘Wow, this is a pretty cool place to spend my summer, my first summer of professional baseball,” Galusky said..
Friday night’s game is sold out. It’s the first in a three-game weekend series.
Galusky said minor league baseball is as much about the experience for fans as it for first-time professional players.
“Sit back and enjoy everything minor league baseball is. We’ve been talking about it now for six or seven months since the Black Bears rolled into town, the management team. It’s going to be a new experience for the fans. I think your job is to have fun,” he said.
Additional parking has been added since WVU’s baseball team christened the field with action earlier this spring. Black Bears signage has gone up. The party deck is complete for fans.
Toregas said his players would be pleased with a loud crowd.
“We try to keep it clean, but at the same time, good fans find a way to get on the other team’s nerves,” he joked.
Gates at the ballpark open at 5 p.m. A live band will play prior to the game start at 7:05 p.m. A fireworks display is scheduled after the game.