The Missouri State High School Activities Association announced today that its 2007 Baseball Championships, May 30 to June 2, will move to Meador Park in Springfield.
The 58th annual event was originally scheduled to be played at Taylor Stadium on the campus of the University of Missouri-Columbia where it has been held since 1978. However, to accommodate the University’s intentions to bid as a potential host site for the NCAA Division I Baseball Regionals, the MSHSAA has sought an alternative facility for this year’s state tournament.
“We support the University of Missouri’s desire to host a regional tournament, and we want to be a good partner in our relationship with the Athletic Department and the baseball program,” said MSHSAA Executive Director Dr. Kerwin Urhahn. “This is a great opportunity for them, and we know our schools will support our decision to support their efforts.”
“We really appreciate the flexibility and cooperation of MSHSAA in working with us,” said Tim Hickman, University of Missouri associate director of athletics. “This is the best opportunity we’ve had in years to serve as a host site, and we really value our relationship with MSHSAA to be able to have this type of dialogue.”
Meador Park, located at 2600 South Fremont in Springfield, is currently the home of the Drury University Panthers. The site has hosted the MSHSAA Baseball Championships six times previously, most recently in 1975. The facility also has hosted four NCAA Division II World Series and numerous other state, regional and national amateur baseball events.
Meador Park has a permanent seating capacity of 1,500, including 155 new chair-back seats behind home plate. Since Drury revived its baseball program this fall, the facility has undergone more than $100,000 in improvements, including new dugouts, a new scoreboard, resurfaced infield, all-brick backstop, in-ground irrigation system and a new public address system. There are also more than 500 surface parking spots adjacent to the stadium.
“We are grateful to the Springfield-Greene County Park Board, Drury University, the Springfield Sports Commission, and the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau for their hard work in accommodating us on short notice. They have really gone above and beyond the call of duty to provide our students, our schools and our fans with a quality facility and a great championship experience under a unique set of circumstances,” Urhahn said.
The Springfield-Greene County Park Board was named as a Gold Medal Award-Winning Parks and Recreation Department in 2000 and has been recognized by Sports Illustrated and the United States Olympic Committee. Springfield is currently the host city for MSHSAA state-level events in boys golf, boys tennis, girls golf and girls tennis.
“We’re very excited about this opportunity to host the MSHSAA Baseball Championships at Meador Park,” said Jodie Adams, director of parks for the Springfield-Greene County Park Board. “The Springfield-Greene County Park Board has a rich tradition involving youth baseball, and there’s no question our community is a real baseball hotbed. This should be a treat for the many high school baseball fans in our area.”
The schedule for the four-day tournament will be modified slightly to accommodate site considerations at Meador Park. Games will now be scheduled for 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. each day – all an hour earlier than the tournament’s traditional game times. A complete tournament schedule for each classification can be found on the MSHSAA web site.
