Segra Stadium is a
baseball park
A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into two field sections called the infield and the outfield. The infield is an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined in part ba ...
in downtown
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Fayetteville ( , ) is a city in and the county seat of Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a major U.S. Army installation northwest of the city.
Fayetteville has received the All-Ameri ...
. It is the home of the
Fayetteville Woodpeckers
The Fayetteville Woodpeckers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and play their home games at Segra Stadium. From 2017 to 201 ...
, a
Minor League Baseball
Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...
team playing in the
Carolina League
The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...
. It opened in 2019 and seats up to 4,600 people.
The site is immediately surrounded by the
Airborne & Special Operations Museum,
Fayetteville station
Fayetteville station is an Amtrak train station in Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States. It is located in the Fayetteville Downtown Historic District, next to the Airborne & Special Operations Museum.
History
The station was originall ...
, and the
Prince Charles Hotel. Segra Stadium is also the home of some of Fayetteville's most popular annual events, such as Pecktoberfest, Fayetteville Holiday Lights, and Eastern NC Walk to End Alzheimer's.
History
Fayetteville lacked minor league baseball since the
Cape Fear Crocs
The Cape Fear Crocs were a minor league baseball team in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
They were a low Class-A baseball team which played in the South Atlantic League, and were a farm team of the Montreal Expos for the franchise's entire tenu ...
moved to
Lakewood, New Jersey
Lakewood Township is the most populous township in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A rapidly growing community, as of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 135,158, its highest decennial count ever and ...
after the 2000 season. The team is now called the
Jersey Shore BlueClaws, the
Class A affiliate of the
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...
.
On August 17, 2016, the City of Fayetteville signed a memorandum of understanding with the
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...
of
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
to keep a Class A team club at the ballpark for 30 years. As part of the deal, Barton Malow contracted 83 percent of the construction to local and Small Disadvantaged Business Enterprise contractors.
In conjunction with the ballpark financing, Prince Charles Holdings plans to invest $15 million toward renovating the adjoining Prince Charles Hotel into apartments. The company also intends to invest an additional $60 million toward a hotel, 150 residential units, of retail space, and a parking garage at the same stadium site.
Groundbreaking took place on August 21, 2017.
On February 7, 2019, the team announced a naming rights agreement with Segra, an independent fiber bandwidth company, to call the facility Segra Stadium. A ribbon cutting and tours were held on April 13.
The ballpark's first game was held on April 18, 2019, between the Woodpeckers and the
Carolina Mudcats
The Carolina Mudcats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Zebulon, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh, and play their home games ...
.
[ Carolina defeated Fayetteville, 7–5, before a sellout crowd of 6,202 people.]starting pitcher
In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...
Enoli Paredes recorded the stadium's first strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...
s as he retired the first three Mudcats batters on strikes to open the game.[ The first ]home run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...
was hit in the top of the second inning by Carolina's Payton Henry
Payton Anthony Henry (born June 24, 1997) is an American professional baseball catcher in the Philadelphia Phillies organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Miami Marlins.
Amateur career
Henry attended Plea ...
.[
]
Other uses
Besides being the home field for the Astros affiliate, the ballpark hosted the Big South Tournament as a neutral site May 21–25, 2019, and plans to do so again in 2021. The 2020 tournament at Segra Stadium was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
From February 28 to March 1, 2020, Segra Stadium hosted the Armed Forces Invitational Baseball Tournament between Army West Point Black Knights, the Air Force Academy Falcons, and Campbell University Fighting Camels. In the round-robin style tournament, each team played a two-game series with the others over the course of three days. All three teams split both series, going 2–2 on the weekend.
Segra Stadium is set to host the Second Annual Jackie Robinson Showcase on May 5, 2023. This is a baseball tournament showcasing six high school baseball teams within the Fayetteville area. The tournament highlights the local talent while giving athletes a chance to play under the big lights at Segra Stadium.
References
External links
City of Fayetteville Minor League Baseball Stadium ProjectFayetteville Woodpeckers
{{Carolina League Ballparks
Minor league baseball venues
Baseball venues in North Carolina
Sports venues in Cumberland County, North Carolina
2019 establishments in North Carolina
Sports venues completed in 2019
Carolina League ballparks