CC School District awarded $10,000 grant from Minnesota Twins

By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — Arguably, the most exciting if not greatest Major League Baseball World Series was in 1991 when the Minnesota Twins bested the Atlanta Braves in seven games after winning the last two “elimination games” in extra innings inside the Hubert H. Humphrey Dome.

The Twins abandoned the dome in 2009. But it’s assured that particular Fall Classic “classic” lives on in the memory of premillennial Twin fans despite the site of where it happened has since been deflated and demolished.

Sportsmen’s Park will surely invoke memories among Charles City sport fans long after the Comet baseball and softball teams leave it for higher — or at least non-floodplain — grounds.

Some memories may not be so fond, like the wet summer of 2016 that washed out the Comet baseball team’s home schedule save for a few games that included an early-season doubleheader against Crestwood that was plagued with a fog so thick that it completely obscured the outfielders from home plate.

But there are also plenty of highlights, like the Comet softball team clinching the Northeast Iowa Conference title last summer after winning the final game of the regular season.

Charles City assistant softball coach Dana Sullivan has been a part of some of the more recent memorable events at Sportsmen’s Park. But like the Twins did with their Triple-H enclosed home, she knows it’s time to say adieu and is grateful that the aforementioned MLB club is willing to assist with the relocation.

“We’re excited,” Sullivan said when she learned this week that the Charles City Community School District received a Twins Field for Kids matching grant of $10,000 by the Minnesota Twins and the Twins Community Fund Board of Directors.

It’s the maximum grant awarded from Twins Field for Kids, which assists selected communities in the promotion and preservation of youth baseball and softball.

The grant will be used for the pending construction of the fields at the Charles City Sports Complex to be located on a 20-acre plot of land north of city limits purchased by the school district in January of last year.

“Depending how our fundraising goes, we like to get started this fall and have it ready by the 2019 season,” said Sullivan, who is part of a fundraising committee for the new complex.

“We meet to discuss ways to raise funds and search for possible grants,” Sullivan said. “I took it upon myself to look into (Twins Field for Kids), and went online to fill out the application.

“We’re also looking into other grants for this project.”

Like many people associated with Comet baseball and softball, and the new sports complex itself, Sullivan anticipates a “state-of-the-art” facility when all is done.

“We would like something where we can draw bigger tournaments and possibly host a regional,” she said. “Charles City has always had an exciting brand of softball and baseball, and we would like to get more people out to our games … inspire younger kids to become Comets themselves.”