Pulaski River Turtles 7 at Tri-State Coal Cats 4 (Appalachian League) - July 4, 2024

We spent Canada Day in D.C. and my daughter and I attended the Mets extra-inning thriller over the Nats. Three days later, it was America's birthday and once again, baseball was the method of celebration. We were in Huntington, West Virginia, which is most famous as the home of Marshall University. Of course, their baseball season is long over, but there is a new collegiate wood bat team in the Appalachian League who play at the same stadium, which was good enough for us. We drove over and arrived a bit after first pitch, avoiding the parking lot right behind the stadium, which seemed to be in prime windshield damaging territory.

As we headed to the box office, a foul ball came flying into the parking lot, bouncing just a few feet in front of us. I raced over to pick it up, and boom, my daughter had a souvenir before she even entered the stadium. We then got our tickets, which were $8 for standing room.

The ballpark opened in March of this year and is named for Jack Cook, long-time coach of the Thundering Herd. Capacity is 3,500, which is certainly more than enough for this level, as attendance was only 910.

As is the case with most NCAA parks, there is not much here in terms of amenities. A large concourse atop a simple seating bowl, with seats of two shades of green. 

There is a a club section as well. That's my daughter in the foreground, wondering why I am taking a picture of her from so far away.

The field is artificial turf, while the berms down the lines are natural, and great spots for foul balls. The sunset was quite nice after a rainy day in Appalachia.

The highlight of the evening was the below special. Labatt Blue was the first beer I drank when I was 19 and starting university, and I was happy to have a chance to relive those days, celebrating Independence Day by drinking Canadian beer.

Overall, Jack Cook Field is exactly what you would expect from a new NCAA D-1 field: beautiful and uncomplicated. It might be a bit too big for the Coal Cats, but I appreciated the space as we had to move around to keep my daughter entertained. I look forward to returning to Huntington for Marshall basketball and spending some time exploring the town.

The Game

The Pulaski River Turtles were visiting Tri-State (Huntington is right next to Ohio and Kentucky) and I am not even going to both recapping the game. There were 8 wild pitches, 5 hit batsmen, and 12 walks. Pretty, it was not. The visitors won 7-4 in a game that took exactly 3 hours. Kudos to my daughter for staying until the end.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect was the pitching lines (IP-H-R-ER-BB-K) for the Tri-State starter Kenyon Collins (3-4-3-3-3-4) and his first reliever Joshua Paulina (4-3-4-4-4-4). Almost perfectly symmetrical, except Paulina got an extra strikeout.

Notes

Although I am not chasing the Appalachian League as it is neither a minor nor an independent league, I was happy to add this park to the list to keep it complete. The other 9 teams in the circuit all remain from its time in affiliated ball, though all have changed their nicknames from those of their parent clubs to something much more marketable.

Tri-State replaced the Princeton Whistle Pigs, who folded after the 2023 season.

Best,

Sean