On my recent trip to Lawrenceville, GA I took advantage of some personal time after work (ABF Freight assignment) to visit Georgia Gwinnett College’s baseball complex. The school was just about a 10 minute drive from my hotel and with the weather being in the low 80s, I was optimistic there may be a fall baseball game I could attend. Fall baseball at the collegiate level typically isn’t highly publicized on school websites or social media, but regardless of a game or not, I was intrigued to see the field.
As I drove down the hill towards the parking lot, I did some some movement on the field so I was eager to park and get into the stands. The Grizzly Baseball Complex parking lot is just passed the field and abuts the Grizzly Softball and Soccer Fields – all three looked absolutely amazing and impressive first impression wise. I parked and headed over to the field to see what I could find out.
From what I could find on the facilities on the Georgia Gwinnett College Athletics page, this facility and its surrounding fields were built just 10 years ago. Again first impression – it looked like it was built last month. Absolutely amazing view walking up to the Grizzly Field. I found my way down a sidewalk to the bleacher area and saw that practice (just the Gwinnett players) was just about wrapping up. Players were gathering their bags, equipment, and beginning to rake and dress the field. As I walked towards the players, a head coach looking manager addressed me with a warm hello. I told him why I was there, that I was traveling for business, and love visiting and writing about baseball fields. He said welcome and by all means, take some photos.
So, I thanked him and headed behind home plate to take in Grizzly Baseball Field. It was near 80 degrees on a warm early Autumn day with beautiful wispy clouds and not a chance of rain, so I snapped away. Here are a few shots of the field I took.
After finishing up taking a few photos of the field, I met back up with the coach who welcomed me earlier. In doing some research on the Georgia Gwinnett College’s baseball page, I am fairly certain it was HC Jeremy Sheetinger who I was speaking with. I asked Coach Sheetinger about the baseball program, who they typically played, baseball small talk, etc. Other players and coaches were also very welcoming and engaging and introduced themselves to me – that was a lot of fun meeting and chatting with them about baseball. As I was leaving the field, another coach invited me back for a game, which I will definitely do my very best to attend – time permitting.
After seeing the field and meeting the coaches on Monday, I decided to go back on Wednesday night to get some wide shots of the field and look for a baseball. For those of you who don’t read my blogs, I have this crazy streak going of finding baseballs at random fields I have attended over the years. It is not 100%, but darn near close. Here are some photos I took on my second trip over to Grizzly Field on Wednesday afternoon.
And this video from the left field fan viewing area:
Georgia Gwinnett College’s Grizzly Baseball Complex is located at 1030 Collins Hill Rd, Lawrenceville, GA. I found it very easy to get to, so easy I visited the field multiple times on my recent trip to GA for ABF Freight. The facilities, grounds, dugouts, bleachers, pitching bullpens were immaculate and very impressive to walk around on a beautiful fall afternoon in Georgia. The team, the players, and coaches were all friendly and engaging with this baseball stranger in their house. Southern Baseball Hospitality at its finest. Huge thanks to HC Sheetinger for allowing me access to your field and players – I sure do appreciate ya.
The Baseball Storyteller 