Zion takes hands-on approach in stadium dealings
When Northern League commissioner Clark Griffith declared at Thursday's official groundbreaking ceremony for the new baseball stadium in Zion that will be used by the Lake County Fielders, that the Fielders would win a championship in the near future, it drew cheers from the hundreds of dignitaries and fans in attendance.
While the scheduled first pitch at the new stadium is just seven months away, there is still much work to be done before "Play Ball!" can be called by an umpire in Zion, much less the Fielders vying for a Northern League pennant.
(Michael Schmidt/News-Sun)
"There are still plenty of deadlines which need to be met," admitted Zion mayor Lane Harrison. "Some we can control, some we cannot, such as the winter weather."
The city of Zion appears to have much more control of the Fielders than first presented, as the city could eventually own the stadium located at Green Bay Road and 9th Street outright.
"Right now, the best way to put it is that the stadium is in a metamorphosis state right now," said Harrison. "How much the city of Zion is going to actually own is a fluid situation depending on outside financing, which is always changing.
"But no Zion taxpayers dollars are going to be used to build it."
Harrison and the Fielders are counting on corporate sponsorships and possibly state funds to help pay for the construction of the stadium.
Financing, building permits and other various planning problems prevented the stadium construction from beginning, according to Fielders president Rich Ehrenreich. But Ehrenreich and other members of the Fielders' management team say that the stadium will be ready for the home opener on June 11.
"The Northern League (an independent league not affiliated with Major League Baseball) was kind enough to schedule us on the road for the first three weeks of the season just in case there are some things which need to be completed in the stadium construction," said Fielders general manager Ben Burke.
Late construction means that the Fielders will use college and high-school diamonds in the area to hold their preseason training once the team gets together in the spring.
"We will wait until the Major Leagues wrap up their spring training because we can sign some of the players they will cut," said Burke. "We will probably bring 30-34 players to our preseason training and play a few exhibition games on the road to see who makes our final roster."
Burke doesn't plan on being a hands-on GM who mettles in the day-to-day operations on the field.
"I'm going to leave the baseball side in the very capable hands of our manager Fran Riordan, who is one of the winningest managers in Frontier League history," he said. "My job is to keep the hot dogs hot, the beer cold and the music loud on game day."
"Game day" for professional baseball in Zion does have a nice ring to it.
"It's a marvelous thing to think that pro baseball in Lake County will happen," said Harrison.
Let's keep our fingers crossed.
Scout star leaves soccer program in Shipp shape
The amazing prep soccer career of Lake Forest High senior Harry Shipp came to an end on Tuesday with a 2-1 loss to New Trier in the IHSA Class 3A super-sectional at Loyola University in Chicago.
In his four seasons with the Scouts, the talented midfielder made 62 starts, during which he scored 32 goals and handed out 27 assists.
While Shipp was a member of Lake Forest, the Scouts captured three regional and one sectional title.
The University of Notre Dame-bound Shipp (6 goals, 9 assists this season) -- along with talented teammates such as Nick Grube, Cameron Offer (11 goals), Cole Smith (5 goals), Austin Manierre (5 goals), Alex Wettermann (7 assists), Noah Wagemann (4 assists), Charles Roberts, Kurtis Teskoski (11 shutouts) and Michael Shipp (10 goals) -- helped the Scouts (19-4-1) tie a school record for victories this year and earn their first sectional title since 1976.
"This group of players have been really fun to work with this season," said Lake Forest coach Robert Parry. "The 15 seniors on this team did a lot for our program. They are definitely going to be missed."
