The CAB Company is making Prescott’s Firehall Field a baseball destination.

CAB – Crazy About Baseball – is embarking on phase two of its capital improvement plan. The group hit it out of the park with phase one of its Spark the Park campaign, which brought many field improvements, new signage, a new scoreboard, a large maintenance shed and several smaller improvements to enhance the baseball experience for players and fans.

CAB is turning to the community in an effort to raise money to augment its other fundraising efforts to plunge into phase 2 of the Firehall Field renovation. On deck is a new concession stand offering a wider range of food, additional bleachers and grandstand, full bathroom facilities and a 50-foot mural on the right field buildings.

Dallas Eggers of the CAB Company said they’d like to have the improvements done by next spring, and a total of $135,000 is needed. The fundraising drive is especially critical because COVID-19 has kept the group from holding its CAB Company banquets. Last year, because of the pandemic, crowd sizes were limited at games, and no concessions could be sold under Pierce County Public Health guidelines.

Eggers is expecting big things this season, from when the first home game starts April 30 through the entire summer and fall.

“We can have a full season this year,” he said. “We’ll be able to offer concessions this year. That helps tremendously.”

Also, for Prescott Pirates games, CAB got the go-ahead to serve beer.

“We have a beer license but only at the Pirates games. We won’t serve alcohol at any games where minors are playing,” Eggers said.

With revenue down for those reasons, the group still had a successful baseball drop raffle, where baseballs are dropped from a helicopter. The grand prize is won by the ball closest to the target. It also was a big boost that the Minnesota Blizzard baseball club rented out the field for summer and fall play.

“Those two things kept us afloat,” Eggers said, along with some private gifts from anonymous donors.

The large shed construction is wrapping up.

“We’ll move all of our maintenance stuff in there. There will be half a second story for uniform storage, and we can move our mowers out of the school building,” said Eggers. “We might put a mini batting cage in there for kids to whack away in the winter. We made it bigger for that reason.”

The new concession stand will have full sewer and water when it’s completed.

“We’re fortunate that we’re able to serve concessions this year. They’re crucial to our funding,” said Eggers.

As part of the project, six-inch tubes will be buried along the outside of the field for the possibility of lights in the future.

One nice aspect of the phase two plan are the year-round outdoor bathroom facilities that can automatically unlock and lock at certain times.

“The city really likes that part of the plan,” said Eggers.

While $135,000 covers all the bases, so to speak, the goal of the fund drive is $80,000. And from past experience, the CAB Company does what it says it’s going to do.

“We have a good plan. We’ve been around for 22 years. Everything we’ve promised, we’ve delivered. People trust us,” said Eggers.

The organization also could always use more help on the fields. Countless volunteer hours are spent making sure Firehall Field’s diamond is the best around. Eggers is thankful for the help of the following for getting the new maintenance building up: Tom Schommer, Adam Marx, Greg Harris, Ed Lucas, Bruce Dravis, Mark Engstrom, Swanson Brothers Construction and Asphalt Plus for allowing CAB to use their roller several times in the past year.

If you can donate to help with the project, mail donations to:

CAB Company PO Box 432 Prescott, WI 54021

“We’ll use it wisely. Everything we do is to help the kids,” said Eggers. “We had 60 people out here volunteering last Saturday. We got done at the end of the day, and the kids picked up their gloves and went out in the field and played catch. The adults sat in the bleachers and took that in. That’s what it’s all about.”

Photos by Jack McLoone