Deltaville Ballpark
Encyclopedia
Deltaville, Virginia
Deltaville is a small unincorporated community on the eastern tip of Middlesex County in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Virginia. It is known for being a vacation spot for those looking for sailing, fishing, and other activities associated with the water...
, it hosts baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
games from several different teams and organizations.
Field & Stadium
The wooden grandstands provide covered seating for approximately 500 fans. They are protected from foul balls by a crab pot wire fence. A small press box sits in the top two rows behind home plate; it has telephone connections to each dugout, scoreboard controls, microphone, and a PA/Music system.Each dugout
Dugout (baseball)
In baseball, the dugout is a team's bench area and is located in foul territory between home plate and either first or third base. There are two dugouts, one for the home team and one for the visiting team. In general, the dugout is occupied by all players not prescribed to be on the field at that...
sits at the end of the grandstands, and is recessed into the ground, protected with chain link. A bullpen for one pitcher/catcher is further down the line.
Beside the home team dugout (3rd base line) is an additional seating area with room for approximately 15-20 spectators. Views can be obstructed by the dugout at ground level.
The infield playing surface is skin, which drains remarkably well for a field of its type. Hundreds of holes are drilled beneath its surface, filled with rock, to facilitate drainage. The outfield is plain old fashioned grass of many types. Outfield wall dimensions are 305-375-295, with the metal wall being approximately 9 feet tall. Even with the high wall, the short distance down the lines leads a large number of home runs. The entire playing field is lighted by a number of lighted poles. One of the poles in right center field is home to an Osprey
Osprey
The Osprey , sometimes known as the sea hawk or fish eagle, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and across the wings...
nest, whose occupants occasionally will leave remains of fish to be found by an unsuspecting outfielder.
There is one male and one female bathroom in a bathhouse located behind the home dugout. This building also serves as equipment storage. A small concession stand sits behind the press box, and is open for many of the games throughout the year, selling hot dogs, hamburgers, popcorn, soft drinks, chips, and other ballpark fare.
Stadium Users
A number of teams use the ballpark as their home field, and the ballpark sees regular use from late February through early November.Middlesex High School Chargers
The local public high school, Middlesex High School, uses the ballpark as its home game & practice field for the varsity baseball team. Though located 20 minutes east of the actual high school, it has been used in this capacity for a number of years. Practices start Monday through Friday in late February, and games begin in early March, running through mid-May or later. The high school hosts the Rappahannock General Hospital Invitational Tournament each spring, a warmup tournament of sorts for Middlesex and three invited opponents. The ballpark also hosts the Tidewater District tournament, and has played host to Middlesex home games of the Region A tournament, and in 2002, State Group A Quarterfinals. Admission to regular season games is $5, 12 & under free. Playoff games are more.In 2008, a wooden bat fall league was started, with area counties forming JV & Varsity squads based upon their high school teams. The teams are managed by local coaches, but not the high school coaches, as this would clearly constitute off-season coaching, which is prohibited. Teams play 5-inning doubleheaders, to which the admission is free. This season runs between September and early November.
Deltaville Deltas
The Deltaville Deltas baseball team is a semi-pro, 18+ wooden bat baseball team that can trace its roots back to before the ballpark was built. The ballpark has been home to the Deltas since its construction. The season typically begins around the second week of May, and continues through early August. Players are mostly college-aged players from the local area, with a number of former college & professional players also among the roster. Many players come from teams at Rappahannock Community CollegeRappahannock Community College
Rappahannock Community College is a two-year college located in Virginia. It has two campuses - one located in Glenns, and the other in Warsaw. The institution is one of the twenty-three colleges in the Virginia Community College System...
, Lynchburg College
Lynchburg College
Lynchburg College is a private college in Lynchburg, Virginia, USA, related by covenant to the Christian Church with approximately 2,500 undergraduate and graduate students. The Princeton Review lists it as one of the 368 best colleges in the nation...
, Randolph-Macon College
Randolph-Macon College
Randolph–Macon College is a private, co-educational liberal arts college located in Ashland, Virginia, United States, near the capital city of Richmond. Founded in 1830, the school has an enrollment of over 1,200 students...
, Norfolk State University
Norfolk State University
Norfolk State University is a four-year, state-supported, coed, liberal arts, historically black university located in Norfolk, Virginia. It is member school of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund and the Virginia High-Tech Partnership.-Academics:...
, The Apprentice School
The Apprentice School
The Apprentice School is a four-year apprenticeship vocational school founded and operated by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia. The school trains students for careers in the shipbuilding industry...
, Old Dominion University
Old Dominion University
Old Dominion University is a state university located in Norfolk, Virginia, United States, and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools...
, and several others. Former Minnesota Twins
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
pitcher Keith Atherton
Keith Atherton
Keith Rowe Atherton , is a former professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues primarily in relief from -. Atherton played for the Oakland Athletics , Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians ....
, a native of nearby Mathews County, pitched several post-MLB years for the Deltas, and Dave Cunningham, formally a minor league ballplayer in the Houston Astros
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...
organization, played for several seasons. The Deltas played most of the recent past in the Virginia Baseball League, winning championships in 1993 & 2004, but switched in the 2007 season to the Southern Virginia Baseball League.
Admission to Deltas games is $6, with 12 & under free.
Middle Peninsula Mariners
The Middle Peninsula Mariners team was formed in the 1990s as a second team to call Deltaville home. Like the Deltas, the team is semi-pro in nature, playing with wood bats & a schedule which runs from May through early August. Players are mostly college-aged or former college players, with many on the roster coming from area Division III college baseball teams. The Mariners played in the Virginia Baseball League until 2009, and won the 2008 & 2009 league titles.The Mariners are not active as of the 2011 season. They last played an abbreviated schedule as an independent team in 2010.
Middlesex Little League
Before the construction of the Middlesex Sports Complex, Deltaville Ballpark was one of the primary sites for playing baseball for Middlesex County youth. Since the construction of the complex, all 12-and-under games are played on the smaller 60-foot diamonds at the complex, as well as most of the 13-18 year old games on the complex's 90' diamonds. However, on certain occasions, sometimes due to scheduling conflicts or just for the heck of it, games for the older group will be played at the ballpark, often with all the music, announcers, and other light fanfare that goes along with a typical Chargers, Deltas, or Mariners game.As with all Little League games, admission is free.
Deltas vs. Mariners
Twice each year, the "cross-town" Deltas & Mariners played each other at the ballpark. Sometimes dubbed "The Battle for the Ballpark", this event always drew large crowds, and generally, a good baseball game. Area players were in both lineups, and many fans of both teams know a number of players from either side. The teams each played one home game, the opponent having to be "visitor" at their own field once a year. The last game was in 2010.Other Uses
The ballpark has been used for several other events in the past. These include recreational softball, pickup baseball games, charitable events (memorable charity events include a womanless wedding show, a church-sponsored outdoor concert, and a donkey baseball game), as well as other events suited to the ballpark.Heritage Day
Independence Day (United States)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
, a Saturday event known as Heritage Day occurs in Deltaville. The day is filled with arts & crafts, crab races, and even a parade, and is capped off each year by a Deltas game at the ballpark. Traditionally the opponent has been longtime rival Tappahannock Tides, however with a new league, the opponent has been an in-league foe (The 2007 opponent was Navy Baseball; in 2008, the York Cannons). The game time is moved up from the traditional 7:30pm start time to 5:00pm, and is followed by a short "Old-Timers Game", in which former Deltaville players of all ages relive their playing days for a couple of innings. This is all followed at approximately 8:45pm, with a large fireworks display to celebrate Independence Day. The grandstands are typically filled to capacity for this game, and fans will venture into the infield once the lights go out to watch the fireworks unobstructed. More than a thousand more will bring blankets & lawn chairs to enjoy the fireworks from the large field beside the ballpark.