A Hidden Gem West of the Pecos

Home plate entrance to Kokernot Field, Jul-2012.

A look at the seating bowl from down the third-base line.

The view from in front of the press box, Jul-2019.

Chronological Tour: Stop 400

• Location: Hendryx Street (TX 223) at Fightin’ Bucks Drive (off TX 118), Alpine, Texas (map it using Google Maps)
• Opened: 1947
• Home team: Alpine Cowboys, Sophomore League (1959-61); Big Bend Cowboys, Continental League (2009-10); Alpine Cowboys, Pecos League (2011-present); Sul Ross Lobos, American Southwest Conference; Alpine High School Fightin’ Bucks, Texas District 5-AA
• Capacity: 1,400

Rating: 3 baseballs

The park became home to a professional team in the Sophomore League for the loop’s last three seasons, and it also hosted Sul Ross State University baseball until it was suspended in the early 1970s. At that time, the park was turned over to the Alpine Independent School District. Sul Ross later restored its baseball program, and the college leases the field from the school district for its home games.

Independent league baseball arrived with the short-lived Continental League in 2009, and play has continued with the Pecos League, starting in 2011. My attempt to see a game here in July 2012 was rained out, but I finally returned in 2019.