LocalSportsJournal.com

Varsity Blues Athletic Awards Show is set to open the Frauenthal Theater’s doors at 5:15 p.m. on Saturday in downtown Muskegon.

The special evening celebrates the excellence of student athletes throughout the area with 3-sport athlete awards and specialty awards like the Marsh Field Baseball and Softball Awards. Tickets for the event can be purchased online or at the Frauenthal Theater’s box office.

Finding the right baseball and softball nominees was not an easy task, thankfully area coaches are dialed into their student athletes success on and off the field.

Here are the names we found who were the best mix for the Marsh Field Baseball and Softball Awards.

Baseball
Ben Meyers – North Muskegon
Dewey Modaff – Muskegon Catholic
Zane Stahl – Spring Lake
Ryan Bosch – Fruitport

Softball
Brenna Cabrera – Oakridge
Emma Herremans – Ravenna
Kaelinn Jozsa – Oakridge

The Marsh Field Softball and Baseball Award came from the historic ballpark called Marsh Field. The 108-year old ballpark is located at the corner of Laketon Ave. and Peck St. in Muskegon.

Local historian Marc Okkonen delivers the opening pitch of the Muskegon Clippers’ first home game of the 2016 season which celebrated the 100th year of baseball at Marsh Field. Photo/Marc Hoeksema

The field was born out of an idea from Charles W. Marsh, a local industrialist and baseball enthusiast who in 1915, with the help of a small group of investors, purchased four blocks of wooded land at the corner of Peck and Laketon with the goal of constructing what was then considered to be a first-class baseball facility.

On May 4, 1916, the Muskegon Reds of the professional Central League played the first baseball game at the brand-new facility. Marsh Field has been the home of Muskegon baseball ever since.

This tradition-rich ballpark served as the home of the Muskegon Lassies of the All-American Girls Professional League during World War II. It also was the home of two minor league baseball teams, the original Muskegon Clippers (New York Yankees) and the Muskegon Reds (Detroit Tigers).

World-class ball players down to high school athletes have all played on the dirt and grass at Charles W. Marsh’s field. The field continues to operate today as the home of the Muskegon Clippers, who are a part of a collegiate wooden bat summer league.

With such an incredibly rich tradition, it wasn’t a tough decision naming a baseball and softball award after Marsh Field.