Glacier Ridge Riders, Pioneer League
8/10
 |
| The entrance had some basic signs for the first season. |
 |
| Not a bad looking park. Rolling hills and a decent evening. |
 |
| A pretty full seating bowl takes in the final homestand of 2022. |
To date, this is still the last new professional park I've managed to see. I headed down in September of 2022. At the time, I lived about a 5 hour drive from Kalispell, so it wasn't far. I chose a tiny border crossing where I was one of two cars. It was the first year of the Glacier Ridge Riders, a new entry in the Pioneer League, covering the Flathead Valley area of Montana. The park is located about a 10 minute drive north of Kalispell on US-93. Since I visited, the park has taken the name Glacier Bank Park. I actually managed to find, almost four years after I went, notes I took, on my cell phone.
When I visited, the park was still quite new. The exterior was finished, but there wasn't any exterior signage. The parking lot was gravel, I have no idea if there are plans to change it. Parking was 5 dollars. Access is pretty straightforward off the highway. There is a kids' playground, which is a great feature at a low minors/independent park. I didn't note whether or not it was inside or not. The backdrop is one of the park's best features. The rolling hills on the other side of the highway make for a nice backdrop, with some mountains visible over the right field wall. It wasn't fully done on this visit for sure, but it still gets a half point for facility from me. The wide concourse and good sight lines were already evident the night I went. The night itself was nice baseball weather, with the gametime temperature just below 80 degrees. In Montana(and Alberta) summer can end very abruptly. I ended up driving through a light snowfall one trip to Great Falls, but that's another story.
Concessions were still a work in progress, which was understandable given the park just having opened, selling mostly ballpark staples. I ended up going to a BBQ truck selling some kind of barbecue in a decent portion for a decent price. I'd still give it half a point.
I found the atmosphere pretty good. There was a video board, with a decent introductory video before starting lineups. The fans were into an inconsequential late season game against the Great Falls Voyagers. Attendance has gone up since the inaugural season to an average of around 2,300 as per the league website. There were about that many people here the night I went. I am still disappointed that the Pioneer League lost it's affiliated status in the minor league reorganization of 2020. But, just starting a team in a place like this, without any external feedback from MLB is a big plus. I enjoyed my visit here. I have relocated to the west coast, so Montana isn't as close as it once was. I would for sure like to explore this area again and could see this park fitting onto a loop of MT.
Linescore
2022-09-07
123 456 789 RHE
Great Falls Voyagers 000 010 030 471
Glacier Ridge Riders 202 110 00x 682
Time: 2:50 Temp: 79F Att: 2:50
