Even after six years of playing professional baseball, Mike Spina Jr. can’t forget the thrill of playing in his hometown.
The 26-year-old former Atlanta Braves first baseman stood in what used to be an 80-acre cow pasture, surveying the new 16-field Nations Park while his youth teams prepared for Saturday’s tournament.
“I wish I was their age again to be able to play at a ballpark like this,” said Spina, a 2005 Newberry High School graduate.
On Saturday, flags flew above newly constructed dugouts and freshly laid artificial turf, and more than 300 people attended the opening ceremony of the $7 million complex.
The ballpark, located in Newberry at 25325 SW 15th Ave., is based on a state-of-the-art youth baseball facility in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Beginning in June, Nations Park will host a baseball tournament each weekend until August, with participation ranging from 40 to 100 teams per week.
Newberry Mayor William Conrad said he hopes the opening of the ballpark will be a milestone for the city in spite of a struggling economy.
“The people of Newberry will look back on 2013 and say, ‘That was the year we built baseball fields,’” he said. “We began a journey today that will take us out of the recession.”
He said the park will also act as a stepping stone to college scholarships and beyond.
Spina, who now coaches youth baseball teams in Newberry, agreed.
“All I want to do is help the kids...get their education and do something with their lives,” he said.
Newberry City Commissioner Joe Hoffman said the idea for the ballpark stemmed from a need to attract more business to the city.
“The Commission before me wanted to bring an asphalt plant here and start more industrial-type development, and I thought, ‘That’s just crazy.’ They wanted to do it right next to our park,” he said.
The Commission then decided sports and recreation tourism would be a better way to pursue economic development for the city, he said.
Hoffman said he expects the ballpark will keep hotels and other local businesses busy to “really give a boost to the local economy.“
“That was the whole point of all of this,” he said.
Before the first round of games started Saturday, Susan Parker sat beside a low wall, peering into left field as her 11-year-old sons, Christian and Nicholas Parker, warmed up.
Susan Parker traveled with her family from Destin to attend the tournament, and it wasn’t long before her sons became acquainted with the new turf.
“The kids have already practiced sliding in it,” she said.
Contact Kelcee Griffis at kgriffis@alligator.org.
Madison Ballers players watch the Nations Park Grand Opening ceremony in Newberry on Saturday. The park will host about 13 baseball tournaments this summer.
