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MADISON, Minnesota — The Lac qui Parle Valley baseball team is scrambling to find a new home for the end of the season.
Madison Memorial Field suffered extensive damage from winds topping 70 miles per hour on Thursday, May 12.
Three of the field’s light poles fell down, with one crashing onto the batting cage. Another light pole is leaning and needs to be replaced. Both dugouts are in need of repair after the roofs were blown off.
Along with being host to LQPV high school varsity baseball, the field is also home to the Madison Mallards amateur baseball team.
Madison is about 60 miles west of Willmar in Lac qui Parle County, just a few miles from the Minnesota/South Dakota border.
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LQPV head baseball coach Bart Hill is saddened by the damage but compared to others in the community, a ball field is a small problem.
“For a baseball guy it’s sad, but it’s not our home,” Hill said.
“Nobody lives here. There’s a house across the street (from the field) with the roof gone, and another family two blocks away, their house now looks like it has an open concept.”
Left out of their usual home, the Eagles played home games Saturday in Rosen.
“Rosen offered their facilities to us,” a thankful Hill said.
LQPV has three regular-season home games remaining: Benson on Friday, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg on Saturday and Renville County West on Monday. Section playoffs begin Saturday, May 28.
Tony Smith, LQPV’s activities director, said the team has a trio of options to play home games: the high school in Cerro Gordo Township, the Appleton Ball Park and back at Rosen. Smith said there is also talk of getting the lights removed in Madison and bringing games back to the field.
“As far as possibilities, it’ll be game-to-game,” Smith said.
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“At this point, we’ll practice either in Appleton or Lac qui Parle Valley. Then as far as games go, we got Lac qui Parle Valley, we got Appleton and we got Rosen. It’ll depend on what the field conditions are and if it’s raining or not. The other wild card is Madison.
Smith added, “While we have kind of an idea, nothing is set in stone.”
To help fund repairs to the field, Hill said a GoFundMe page is in the works. According to Hill, there are also plans to reach out to the Willmar Stingers and Minnesota Twins for additional funding.
“We’re putting out a state-wide plea for help,” Hill said. “The more money we can raise, we can get it done right and get it done better than before.”
