The flooded Kalamazoo River that winds around Homer Stryker Field forced the Growlers to cancel games over the weekend. The field was inundated with water Saturday morning.
“The outdoors truly got the best of Homer Stryker Field on Outdoorsman’s Night,” read a post on the Kalamazoo Growlers’ webpage published Saturday morning.The Growlers joined the regional Northwoods League, a summer baseball league for NCAA eligible college level baseball players, last summer. Battle Creek also has a team, the Bombers, in the league.
MLive reported Homer Stryker Field is “a lake.”Jim Green, a sports field coordinator with the Growlers, said the river must settle back into its banks before the standing water can be pumped out of the ballpark and into three nearby leeching ponds.
Green said the standing water can be pumped within two to three days, and once removed, the club will power-wash bleachers, tables, signage and seats in order to put a lid on any damages. Green, who's spent 14 years at the ballpark and has worked with the Kalamazoo Kings in the past, said it was the second worst flood he's seen since 2001 and the fifth overall in his career. "One year, we lost the (pitcher's) mound," Green said. "It just dissolved."
The games that were canceled over the week have been rescheduled for later this week.
