A New Home for Beloit Baseball

Exterior of ABC Supply Stadium, Jul-2022.

The seating bowl, as seen from down the third-base line.

A batter steps in during a Midwest League game.

Chronological Tour: Stop 425

• Location: Shirland Avenue between State Street (WI 213) and the Rock River, Beloit, Wis. (map it using Google Maps)
• Opened: 2021
• Home team: Beloit Snappers (1½ months of 2021), Sky Carp (2022-present), Midwest League
• Capacity: 3,850

Rating: 3 baseballs

After spending nearly four decades at Pohlman Field in Telfer Park, the ball club moved into a new park a few blocks from downtown and a stone’s throw from both the Rock River and the Illinois state line. In fact, the operating entity for the ballpark is known as the Riverbend Stadium Authority.

The park opened late in the 2021 season, and I was unable to attend a game there before the season ended, but I did get in to take a behind-the-plate photo in October. I then got to the park in July 2022 to attend a game.

The field utilizes the same type of artificial turf as the home of the parent club, the Miami Marlins, and also features real dirt where the dirt ought to be, again the same as in Miami. The seating areas are certainly adequate, and they also offer the requisite social areas, such as a party deck down the right-field line called “Deck Deck Goose”. According to the club, a “sky carp” is a goose that does not migrate, instead staying around all year.

One drawback I noticed, and I am not alone, is that the concession stands only sell “baskets” of popular items like hamburgers and bratwursts. A “basket” comes with potato chips, but it’s impossible to simply order a brat without getting chips on the side.