Baseball regional coming to Linton

Linton-Stockton baseball coach Bart Berns is shown preparing Roy Herndon Field for a sectional game. It will be the site of the 2010 Class 2A baseball regional on Saturday, June 5. (File photo).

It's a move from Austin High School and will involve the winning teams from the Linton-Stockton, Speedway, Clarksville Providence and Tell City Sectionals convening in Greene County on Saturday, June 5.

The field last year at Austin included Eastern Greene, South Putnam, Evansville Mater Dei and Providence High Schools.

It's something that Miners coach Bart Berns has taken an exceptional amount of pride in not only hosting, but in the way the move was made.

Berns said the move came at the request of the IHSAA and that the Linton-Stockton athletic department made no formal or informal request to host the regional.

"(Linton-Stockton athletic director) Charlie (Karazsia) told me that he had quite a few phone calls and compliments on the field," Berns said. "The IHSAA asked us if we would host, we didn't even apply for it, they asked us because of the numerous things they heard about our field."

Berns says it's a source of pride for not only the program, but for him personally.

"You don't work on that field in just March, April and May, you work on it year round," Berns said. "The last 21 years have went into that field and that's very much a pride factor for me."

Beyond the pride factor for Berns, there's also the proximity to the teams in the sectional -- and the lack of travel that will be involved for the Linton-Stockton Sectional winner.

"It's a huge advantage to be sectional champions and not to travel that Saturday, play in your own confines, in front of your own fans," Berns added. "You're already accustomed to the field and the surroundings."

It also will bring a small influx of fans from other areas to Linton, which may bring some economic gain to the city as well.

It may not be on as large a scale as in some cases, but there should be some impact.

"I just think it's great for our community," Berns said. "You're going to have three other teams coming in and you get to show off our high school and our community."

That means that now area high school baseball fans will at least two weeks of excitement since the sectional will once again be hosted by the Miners and will include the same field as last year (Linton-Stockton, Eastern Greene, Bloomfield, North Knox and South Knox) as well as the class A shindig at Shakamak as usual.

All in all it could be a very exciting spring sports locally as far as available venues for fans to enjoy.

And while you're at the sectional in Linton or the regional, take a moment to look over the field itself -- that piece of work that Berns has taken so much pride in producing.

He expressed to me the desire to have a field that's worthy of postseaon consideration came from a desire to have a better facility and better opportunities for his players, better than the opportunities he had when he was a high school player.

"It may not be big for a lot of people," he said. "But it's certainly important for my 21 kids, my coaches and myself."

Rick Curl is a sports writer for the Greene County Daily World. He can be reached by telephone at (812) 847-4487 or by E-mail at rcurl@gcdailyworld.com.