Two years ago, the Omaha Mavericks baseball team reached the Division I NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. Fast forward to 2021, the Maverick squad will finally have a place they can call home as Tal Anderson Field opens this spring.
“I was fortunate enough to play here at UNO for four years and now I’ve been coach[ing] the last, almost 10 years now,” head coach Evan Porter said. “So to have a home, a permanent home that we can call our own, it’s really exciting.”
The Mavericks hosted games in their temporary home J.J. Isaacson Field, at Seymour Smith Park, for the last four seasons. Due to weather conditions making the field unsuitable, the Mavericks were forced to relocate to different ballparks across the Omaha metropolitan area, including:
- Werner Park (Papillion, Nebr.)
- Fricke Field (Papillion, Nebr.)
- Ballpark (Boys Town, Nebr.)
- Westside High School
- Millard North High School
- Creighton Preparatory School
- Omaha Skutt Catholic High School
“It was just hard to call a place home, really, it was hard for us to basically settle into one place,” said UNO senior pitcher Jacob Mohler.
With his supposed senior season ending quickly due to COVID-19, Mohler decided to return for one more year. He was given the opportunity to work on the construction as a field engineer for Peter Kiewit. Mohler is one of the nine Maverick seniors returning for an extra season.
“It’s really something I couldn’t pass up, a big factor for me that went into it,” Mohler said. “I still had some credit hours I needed to finish my degree, so that was obviously a huge factor in it. But being able to basically work on a field that one day, hopefully, we can play on – that’s just something that was really hard to pass up.”
Through the past summer, Mohler saw some of the construction processes, from laying out the concrete for the seating bowl to applying the turf and dirt for the field. Coach Porter was encouraged to see Molher’s dedication to getting the ballpark completed for the upcoming season.
Photo: Henry J. Cordes/Omaha World-Herald
“It looks great once it’s done, but there’s a lot of work and planning and engineering that goes into it,” Porter said. “I think it’s more of a unique experience for someone in his position, where he got to see all of things on the front end that now we all get to benefit from.”
Tal Anderson Field will seat up to 1,500 fans featuring artificial turf, their logo on the field, a 34 by 25-foot video board and improved facilities. These components can attract local talent in Omaha, Porter said.
“This new stadium allows us to be competitive in our recruiting efforts to keep the talent here in Omaha, and we’re excited about that,” Porter said. “Obviously, it’s a world-class facility and [having] all the state-of-the-art technologies and artificial turf is really helpful when you’re playing in the spring. So, all those things will impact our program in a positive way.”
Taking part in the construction process is something Mohler will cherish as he graduates from UNO, he said. With the new ballpark opening, he sees this “baseball phenomenon” continuing for the Mavericks.
“It’s a new era of Maverick baseball that we’re really excited to host,” Mohler said.
The Mavericks will begin their first home series at Tal Anderson Field as they host the Creighton Blue Jays from March 5- 7. The Mavericks are looking to defend their Summit League crown this season as they host the conference tournament from May 26-29.
