WVU baseball team celebrates groundbreaking of new stadium

West Virginia University’s baseball team is going to have a new home in a few years. A groundbreaking on the stadium occurred Thursday.

The stadium is located in the community of Granville just west of Morgantown near I-79. That part of Monongalia County is growing by leaps and bounds. With the stadium will come a new interchange for easier access from the Interstate  to the ballpark. It’s been a lot of change for Patricia Lewis, mayor of Granville. She’s been the mayor since 1991.

“In my wildest dream, I never could have imagined that a small town in Monongalia County could become home to a WVU sports team. We are excited, it’s a wonderful thing,” said Lewis.

The baseball stadium will also host entertainment events, like concerts, as well as games for a minor league baseball team. Lewis says it’s hopefully going to bring even more growth to her community.

“This is an exciting chapter for us, we are a small community. All the development up here has been wonderful for our economics, for our small town,” said Lewis.

Randy Mazey, the head coach of the WVU baseball team, says this new stadium will play a vital role in the stability and success of his program.

“With the move to the Big 12 conference last year, it’s one of the best baseball conferences in the nation. If you want to be nationally competitive with teams like that, your facilities have to be competitive. I think we’re not only going to be competitive, but I think we are going to surpass some teams in the league with the facility we plan on building,” he said.

Officials hope the stadium will be ready for the 2015 baseball season. The minor league team expected to make the stadium home will be from the New York Penn League.