Dave Wolf – WSJM Sports Director
It was announced on Facebook that two former warring factions have found peace after decades of war. Sure, the relationship has been pretty smooth in the past decade, but they were still separated. I myself was in the middle of this battle at it’s peak and have fought on both sides of the border.
The two factions… St. Joseph and North Lincoln.
North Lincoln Baseball and Softball Association and the St. Joseph Baseball Association announced via social media earlier this week, that the two organizations are merging into one.
North Lincoln and St. Joe each have this posted on their Facebook pages.
The SJBA & NLBSA organizations are in the process of merging into one organization. The exciting details will be forthcoming. Stay tuned as Spring registration will open for baseball and softball in the upcoming days!
While no specific details have been made public, the posts say that details are forthcoming, and that registration for the upcoming baseball and softball spring leagues will begin in a few days.
North Lincoln (NL) and St. Joe (SJ) are the two youth baseball and softball organizations in the City of St. Joseph (SJ) and St. Joseph Charter Township (NL). Generally the rule was if you lived in the Township, you played at North Lincoln and if you lived in the city, you played at St. Joe.
When I played North Lincoln ran the spectrum of youth baseball from instructional league and T-ball, to Minors, Little League, Pony League, and Babe Ruth, and their games were all played at Eaton Park just on Lincoln Avenue, right were I-94 crosses over the road. While St. Joe Baseball’s top level was Little League and was played at Wells Field, which was at one time the home of St. Joe High School Football before the first Dickinson Stadium was built in the 1950’s. Over the years NL added fields to the Eaton Park and added softball as well.
I played my youth baseball in both organizations, with my instructional league and minor league experience at North Lincoln, after all I lived less than a mile away from Eaton Park in St. Joe Township… Dead Center in North Lincoln territory. However, when it came time for me to try out for Little League at North Lincoln I was passed over to move up and was sent back to the minors again. So my parents decided to see if I would get a chance over at St. Joe, I made the little league team at St. Joe and our team won two league titles. I admit that I wasn’t very good, but I got the chance to play with kids in my grade.
Even back in the 80’s there was some resentment and, I won’t call it “anger” but some animosity that I just switched sides from parents, league officials, and players, many of which were my classmates at EP Clarke. On the other side, at St. Joe, the parents, league officials and other players had some animosity themselves that I was a “North Lincoln kid.” I probably wore my NL hat during my tryout at St. Joe.
The two leagues did have an agreement that the teams in each league would occasionally travel for a few games at the other league’s stadium. The highlight for the teams at St. Joe was when they were able to play their game at North Lincoln under the lights. And with the real scoreboard.
But that aside. St. Joe always had two separate youth baseball programs. And the time for the two to become one couldn’t come at a better time.
Wells Field in St. Joe does not have any public parking anymore as the parking lot that used to serve the field was the lot of the old Jefferson School building, now the privately owned Jefferson Lofts. On game nights at Wells Field, cars are parked along State Street for blocks in both directions and on both sides of the street. Eaton Park in the township does have parking, but when all of the leagues are in action, it’s just as bad. The good news is that the merger comes as the fundraising effort continues for the proposed St. Joseph Youth Sports complex on Maiden Lane in St. Joseph Township, behind the Hanson Mold building and across from the Corewell Health Outpatient Center.
The complex would add two more softball and baseball fields to the available sites. No only fields that are lit, but batting cages, and even two football fields.
The two organizations coming together, could help provide a boost to the campaign to build the new complex.
Another group that would benefit from the complex and could get behind the merge is the St. Joe Rocket Football Program. The games are played at Upton Middle School and teams sometimes are forced to find any open field to practice. Even on the high school practice field while other high school events are taking place a few yards away on the game field.
It’s a merger that has been years in the making, but should have been done 40 years ago. Details are still to come.
