A perfect day for baseball as Orange County Great Park Stadium in Irvine opens for play

Fans watch the exhibition games Sunday at the new baseball stadium.

The new Orange County Great Park Baseball Stadium is open and the players and coaches involved Sunday gave it rave reviews.

“I think it’s pretty neat,” said Woodbridge player Will Rudy. “It’s a good environment in a good city. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun to play on. I think bigger events are going to come here.”

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An estimated 1,000 fans and hundreds of baseball players from Irvine, Tustin and Fountain Valley showed up for opening ceremonies and a ribbon cutton ceremony Sunday under sunny skies and perfect temperatures.

Six, two-inning exhibition games were held to commemorate the opening of the 1,250-seat stadium and other adjoining baseball and softball fields.

“It’s spectacular to say the least, thank Heavens for Five Point and being there to put all this together is amazing,” said Dick Owens of the Ryan Lemmon Foundation. “Without them, we would truly be standing on concrete and not anything close to a field at all.

“So with their vision and the vision Emile (Haddad, chairman and CEO of Five Point) had it’s by far and away the best thing we’ve ever done here in Irvine. The youth of this whole city and county will forever enjoy this facility, even around the country and the world. We’re going to have teams here to come and play. It’s the best day ever.”

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The stadium was the brainchild of Guy Lemmon and Owens and backed by Five Point and the City of Irvine. The dimensions are 325 feet down each line and 400 feet to center field.

The stadium is expected to be rented by high school and college teams during the coming months. There are also three, 90-foot fields, three 60-foot fields for Little League and Pony baseball and a softball stadium (which will open later) and four softball fields.

“It’s going to get a lot of use for sure,” Owens said.

The rental fee for the facility has not been determined, he added.

It’s expected some games in the 24-team Ryan Lemmon Invitational will be played in the stadium.

Irvine Mayor Donald Wagner was joined by city council members who thanked Five Point, Guy Lemmon and Dick Owens for making the complex possible.

Haddad praised city leaders for their vision in making the stadium come true.

Former Dodgers and two-time Major League all-star Shawn Green (a former Tustin High baseball standout) and softball Olympian gold medalist Amanda Fried also took part in the opening ceremonies.

The opening pitches were delivered to players representing each of the players who took part in the ceremony.

“It’s unbelievable, it’s awesome,” said Tustin baseball coach Charles Chatman. “It’s like spring training. It’s the closest to the Arizona complex as we have anything around here.

“We do the Ryan Lemmon fall league and we have five games in the stadium, so we’re excited.”

As for the regular season, Chatman is pondering whether it’s possible for the Tillers to play a game at the new stadium.

“I would love to talk to our AD about maybe playing Foothill or Beckman from our city in the stadium,” Chatman said.

As for what it would cost to rent the stadium, Chatman said, “outside of our pay scale.”

“We play a game at Angel Stadium so I guess if we can figure out a way to get into Angel Stadium, we should be able to get into here,” Chatman said.

Beckman baseball coach Kevin Lavalle was also impressed.

“It’s an incredible facility, it’s something I think Orange County needs,” he said. “Baseball fields are not easy to maintain and they’ve done a great job of building this. I think they’re going to do a great job of maintaining the whole facility, not just the championship stadium and all the other stadiums that surround it.

“A lot of cities and a lot of communities can build a lot of soccer fields and every park has a basketball court or two. It’s great for the kids of Orange County to have one central location where they can play summer and fall baseball tournaments. It’s something that’s much needed in our area and I know it will be put to great use. Everybody in Orange County and Irvine specifically is really fortunate that this is here.”

Lavalle is not sure if the Patriots will play any games there.

“We will have to wait and see on that,” he said. “I know some coaches might be a little reluctant to give up a home game on their home field but I would play here in a tournament or a non-league game and to try and fill the seats. I think it would a great environment for the kids to play in.”

Irvine Coach Gabe Cota led his team in the first game and said his players were impressed.

“It’s absolutely gorgeous,” Cota said. “The facilities are amazing. Everything around here is just top notch. I’m happy that we’re able to be a part of it. Ut’s up to pro level standards; it’s pretty amazing.”

Irvine High player Mark Rogers, a pitcher and outfielder, was excited to play with his team in one of the games Sunday.

“It’s going to really fun for the guys, for all of us, for all the schools,” Rogers said. “It’s going to be fantastic to be play here.”

“It’s super nice,” said Beckman’s Connor McGuire, who has signed with UC Irvine. “The field is great. The facilities are awesome. For Five Point, the city of Irvine and the Ryan Lemmon Foundation to be able to invest in us and in the city and the next generation of ball players is incredible.

“The grass is super nice, the dirt is really soft. It definitely exceeded all expectations by a ton. This is one of the nicest fields we’ve ever played on.”

The stadium also has locker-rooms on both sides, adjoining training rooms, an umpire room and a coaches meeting room on the field level.

On the top level, there is a spacious press box, which includes a booth for the public address announcer and a hospitality room which is accessible by stairs or an elevator.

There was also plenty of parking in the lots and a large video scoreboard sponsored by Five Point in right field.

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone (timburt@ocsportszone.com)

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