Dear Herd Nation,
First I want to begin by saying thank you for breaking through the national championship wall for Conference USA. I have followed our conference since day 1 with basketball in 1995. Marshall broke through a wall many never thought possible. Now I have some questions about your baseball program and the challenges it faces. Speaking from my own alma mater USM, baseball once played at the same park as the high school until Pete Taylor Park opened in 1984. Until then, there was no charge for baseball. When the Pete opened, the baseball still had to use the basketball coliseum as a clubhouse until 2001 when they they finally had their own clubhouse at the stadium. It wasn't until about 20 years ago The Dugout Club formed, fundraising money specifically for baseball formed. Once this happened, our baseball games routinely and regularly had larger crowds than the basketball games.
I say all of this to say I hope that Marshall is able to complete its baseball stadium. I have seen depictions of it, and it is really something special. I did some research on Marshall baseball, and I see that the Herd last made the regionals in 1978. I'd love to know how they made it happen on limited resoures. I also see that Marshall had a really great season in 2016. That may have been the year you guys ran tbrough the CUSA tournament taking no prisoners. This conference had a strong year in baseball and having one more strong team would be even better.
First I want to begin by saying thank you for breaking through the national championship wall for Conference USA. I have followed our conference since day 1 with basketball in 1995. Marshall broke through a wall many never thought possible. Now I have some questions about your baseball program and the challenges it faces. Speaking from my own alma mater USM, baseball once played at the same park as the high school until Pete Taylor Park opened in 1984. Until then, there was no charge for baseball. When the Pete opened, the baseball still had to use the basketball coliseum as a clubhouse until 2001 when they they finally had their own clubhouse at the stadium. It wasn't until about 20 years ago The Dugout Club formed, fundraising money specifically for baseball formed. Once this happened, our baseball games routinely and regularly had larger crowds than the basketball games.
I say all of this to say I hope that Marshall is able to complete its baseball stadium. I have seen depictions of it, and it is really something special. I did some research on Marshall baseball, and I see that the Herd last made the regionals in 1978. I'd love to know how they made it happen on limited resoures. I also see that Marshall had a really great season in 2016. That may have been the year you guys ran tbrough the CUSA tournament taking no prisoners. This conference had a strong year in baseball and having one more strong team would be even better.