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The Williamsport Crosscutters, a Short A affiliate of Pittsburgh, play at historic Bowman Field, seating 4,200. Built in 1923, Bowman Field is the second oldest organized baseball field in current use. It is a really nice ballpark with a vintage feel. Entrance, seating, restrooms, and other facilities have been updated. It is a great small park to watch a game as you are close to the action at all times. Most of the seating is covered which turned out to be very valuable for keeping the fans at the game later. We had checked out the weather on TWC before going to dinner and it didn't look very good. During dinner it started to rain. We drove to the field and sat in the car waiting for the field lights to come on. The rain almost stopped so we put on our rain gear and walked over to the entrance. On the way in we were talking with a couple of season ticket holders about our trip. One of them introduced us to Gabe Sinicropi, Jr, the Director of Marketing and Public Relations. A little later Gabe told Jim to put our name in for announcements and later our name appeared on the scoreboard welcoming us to the ball field. The weather improved enough that the small grounds crew led by Melissa Slingerland worked hard and quickly to get the field ready. After a 1 hour and 12 minute rain delay the game started. We had second row seats right by 1st base. Note rain drops on the lens in a couple of pictures. The rain held off for half of the game, but then it started raining again and rained hard for the rest of the game. We moved up under cover. The Crosscutters were playing the Staten Island Yankees. After 9 innings the game was tied 3-3. In the bottom of the 10th inning the Yankee pitcher loaded the bases and then walked in the winning run allowing the Crosscutters to win their season opener 4-3. The box score was Yankees R-3, H-6, E-4 and Crosscutters R-4, H-10, R-1. The field lines are RF-350', CF-405', and LF-345'. The game ended at 11:52 pm. During the game Jim met and talked with Lou Hunsinger, Jr. who is a local free lance reporter and author of "Gateway to the Majors", a book about Bowman Field. He told Jim that the Mariners had a farm team at Bowman in the past and that Tino Martinez had been at Bowman. The gentleman with the huge cattle bell has been attending games regularly at Bowman Field since 1944. He rings it whenever the Crosscutters make a good play. Instead of yelling Charge the fans yell TIMBERRRRR. There were 1,561 rain-soaked fans in attendance. The infield dirt became so rain soaked that one of the Crosscutter players bounced into second base on a steal. When he attempted to steal and slide into third he stopped short about three feet. Rusty Roughcut is the mascot. The team is called the Crosscutters in reference to the logging industry that was part Williamsport's early history. Smoking is allowed in the right field bleachers. Gabe gave us a game ball to add to our collection. We appreciate it very much. New Logo 2006. 2007 affiliate of Philadelphia Phillies. 2014 ballpark name is Susquehanna Bank Park at Historic Bowman Field. 2021--Team playing in the MLB Collegiate Draft League. |
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Attractions
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Little League Baseball Museum is next to the fields where the Little League Baseball World Series is held. Displays interpret the history and growth of Little League Baseball since its founding in 1939. Fee. |
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