NJSIAA saying so long to Veterans Park for state baseball championships, heading to Rutgers, per report

As George Carlin once said, when comparing baseball and football in a legendary bit, “Baseball is played in a park. The baseball park!”

But starting this season, as first reported by P.J. Potter of NJ Advance Media, the NJSIAA is leaving the park – Veterans Park in Hamilton, specifically – and taking its state baseball championships up the Turnpike, off Exit 9, to the Livingston Campus of Rutgers University in Piscataway, where Bainton Field will be the new home of the six non-public and public school title games played in June.

Bainton Field, the home of the Scarlet Knights, is in the midst of a huge renovation project this off-season. Past years brought in a turf field, flashy video board, and lights.

The current project improves seating, and raises the press box from ground level – directly behind the backstop – to the top of the bleachers behind home plate, with room for media, a broadcast booth, and ancillary broadcast locations on either side, covered with a roof to protect from the elements. The new setup is expected to have seating for 1,300 fans.

Potter writes that NJSIAA Baseball Director Tony Maselli calls it “a natural fit,” adding “I think we outgrew Veterans Park, but we have nothing but positive things to say about the facility.”

It was indeed a great atmosphere. Baseball in a huge park, with people running, walking dogs, or playing other sports. Food trucks would line the parking lot, and people could roam in and out of the stands as they wished. The sightlines were great, too, with a scoreboard that included a full line score, and even a pitch count tracker.

But in recent years, as attendance grew, parking became an issue, even for those who had paid in advance. There have been issues with games running too late at night – and running into Hamilton Township curfews. And rain could be an issue, too, on the natural grass field, as it was for Middlesex this past year, which only got one half inning of their Group 1 final in against Midland Park on a Saturday afternoon before it had to be finished two days later up in Bergen County.

Cell service also has been a problem. It delayed some fans from entering last year when their pre-paid parking couldn’t always be digitally verified on devices that couldn’t pick up a cell signal, and it even made broadcasting from Bob DeMeo Field a challenge, with several nearly-dead cell zones.

Potter’s report says all games will be free for the public to attend, and the NJSIAA will not be selling tickets. There was no mention of whether there would be a fee for parking.

Middlesex College in Edison also is building a brand new, $70 million baseball stadium, expected to be ready this September, with plenty of time to spare, in time for the 2027 Colts’ season. It’s likely the Greater Middlesex Conference could end up playing its semifinals and finals there – since it’s a county-operated facility – but it could also be an option for the NJSIAA for future events.

But the state shouldn’t run into any conflicts with Rutgers baseball. Typically, the Big Ten Tournament is held in Omaha in late May, while the NJSIAA finals are in early June, meaning the Scarlet Knights’ home season is done almost a month earlier. But even if Rutgers advanced to the NCAA Tournament and made a deep run, the team has an indoor practice facility on campus between Bainton and Jersey Mike’s Arena, home of the basketball and wrestling teams.