The Billings Central softball team is moving from the outskirts of town to the center of the city. On Sunday, October 22, ground was broken for the new home field of the BCCHS softball team at Rocky Mountain College. Urbaska Field, previously an unused baseball field, is being renovated into a softball field to be the Rams’ new home turf. For several years, the team has played home games and held practices at Ben Steele Middle School, but, with the new location, games and practices will be significantly closer to the school and will have year-round access, which will allow St. Francis Catholic School to have home games for the first time.
One of the most notable benefits of having a new location for home games is the closeness to the school, making it easier for students to attend and support the team. “The new field will only take about ten minutes to get to rather than 15 to 20 minutes at Ben Steele,” said senior shortstop GG Hastings. Having facilities exclusive to BCS will be advantageous, with batting cages being constructed along the third base line to help with productive practices and game warmups. Permanent storage is also included with the new field that will allow equipment to be stored year-round for use by both BCCHS and SFC, rather than having to move equipment between fields or store equipment in a temporary metal storage unit. Another upgrade over the old Ben Steele field is the beauty of the surrounding area. The Ben Steele field was in a fairly desolate area with no landscape features, because it was constructed on a flat field. Rocky Mountain College, on the other hand, has a verdant campus with a stunning view of the Rims and mature trees which add to the landscape. Construction is moving quickly and is expected to be completed in time for the upcoming 2024 season due to the generosity of many dedicated donors, especially Yellowstone Bank.
Central will enjoy five scheduled games at Urbaska Field this 2024 season, as listed below:
- March 28 vs. Laurel
- April 2 vs. Hardin
- April 5 vs. East Helena
- April 18 vs. Lockwood
- May 4 vs. Park County
Finally, Central will also benefit from the fact that the MHSA Class A State Tournament is being held in Billings on May 23-25. Tournaments of this nature are usually not held at one-field locations like Urbaska, so the tournament will be held at Stewart Park, a five-field complex near Rimrock Mall, which has been a host of countless USA Softball Tournaments as well as a few state and divisional tournaments in the past. With all of these upcoming home events, the softball team looks forward to a new season.
