Bowie’s Ballpark

Walking up to the Spartan baseball facilities at Ave Maria, Jan-2022.

Looking back toward the plate from down the first-base line.

The view from behind the plate.

• Location: Ave Maria University, Kelleher St, Ave Maria, Fla. (map it using Google Maps)
• Opened: 2010
• Home team: Ave Maria Gyrenes, The Sun Conference
• Capacity: 120 bleacher seats

The school competes in The Sun Conference, part of the NAIA. Its current location is part of a planned community, also called Ave Maria, south of the similarly unincorporated community of Immokalee and northeast of Naples.

The athletic teams here are called the Gyrenes. The word was originally used by members of other branches of the armed services to mock the U.S. Marines (a combination of GI and Marine) but came to be adopted as a source of pride by the Marines. School founder Tom Monaghan (of Domino’s Pizza fame), a retired Marine, adopted the name to honor the fighting spirit of the service.

There is no admission charged to these games; one simply parks across the street and walks up to the field.