By Terra Avilla
It has taken me a while to find the words to write about this week’s topic. Mostly due to the fact that it is, and will forever be, one of my very most treasured places in the world.
In fact, if you wanted to know the longitude and latitude, I love this place so much, I could provide them to you. I have them engraved on matching bracelets for my husband and me.
It is the spot where I first laid eyes on my husband, it is where both my girls watched their first baseball game, where I have seen tears of joy and sadness. Moms and dads celebrating their sons. Traditions passed down for decades. What other place could it be but our very own Memorial Ballpark.
When people ask me why I moved here from Reno, I always recite that fateful day, when my best friend, asked me to watch her brother’s baseball game with her in Susanville. I can say this now, but at the time I thought, “…mmm that’s a hard no.” However, she persisted and I did the short road trip with her, to Memorial Ballpark where the baseball team was holding a scrimmage.
I remember the exact spot I was standing when I saw ‘Coach Frank.’ That spot in the park is still very special to me. However, the longer I live here, the more I discover, that ball park, the food stand, the ‘Abney’ (a shed named after one of the legendary coaches) hold history and sentimental value for so many people.
In fact, Memorial Ballpark’s correct name is Frank Ernaga Field at Memorial Ball Park. A beautiful tribute to a beautiful life.
I know the Ernagas love the ballpark as much I do. I smile when I hear all of the stories that have unfolded on that infield and outfield. The memories that were made and the friendships that last forever.
We are very unique in that our ballpark is in the very heart of our town. It is rustic and breathtaking. There is life and so much energy that flows into our community from that ballpark. From the community barbecuing behind IGA to watch a college baseball game or the parents of a high-schooler watching their Lassen Grizzlies take the field. There is always a magic there.
Sometimes when I’m on duty people passing through town will see me and ask me, “What is that place?”
That place is where sportsmanship is made, fortitude is tested, teamwork is shown and families come to watch their next generation participate in America’s favorite pastime. You are not going to find another city ballpark that is more cherished, or better kept, than our own little park.
I will always have memories of that first day I came to Susanville. I came to the ballpark and I really have never left it.
Frank Ernaga Field at Memorial Ball Park is the place where my kids run around in the beautiful wooden bleachers, where I watch other’s kids I have known for the past six years take ground balls and grow up on that field. Frank Ernaga Field at Memorial Ball Park will always be one of the reasons I love the place we live.
