Seaman Stadium is sure to be packed on for the Okotoks Dawgs' home opener on Saturday, May 31, but before that, fans were invited in for a pre-season celebration.
The Dawgs hosted Fan Fest, offering food and drink, family-friendly activities, and a preview of the team's lineup and the stadium's new amenities.
"We repainted the whole stadium. It feels like when it was just built in 2007 again, it really freshened the place up," said general manager Tyler Hollick. "We renovated our third base Fortis patio and moved it to the front of the concourse, doubled the width of the berm pathway, we just finished a weight room expansion for our players, and we just broke ground on a new hitting and pitching lab."
Hollick said he's happy to be starting the season with something new for both the fans and the team.
"That's the balance, continuing to push the baseball development and offer the best thing we can for our players to take their career to the next level, and also continue to keep it fresh and fun for the best fans in baseball."
The team plans to put on a show for the home opener, celebrating last year's three-peat and paying tribute to Seaman Stadium's namesake.
"There's a really cool tribute to our principal donor, Don Seaman... It never would have happened without Don. This year is his 100th birthday, and our whole season is dedicated to the Don 100. It's really cool, we've got patches on the side of our jerseys with Don."
As for the rest of the season, Hollick said fans are in for a treat.
"We're ready, we're hungry, from the top down, we're not resting on our laurels. We've recruited, I feel, maybe the best team we've ever had," said Hollick. "Time will tell, but we're really excited about it."