UCC Mainstream Online

Baseball proposal is out: next year’s budget shortfall eliminates hope for Riverhawk baseball


Neither Riverhawk fans nor players will be occupying the bleachers and dugouts of Legion Field in the foreseeable future.
Summer Hall / Mainstream
Neither Riverhawk fans nor players will be occupying the bleachers and dugouts of Legion Field in the foreseeable future.

It has been more than 25 years since Umpqua Community College fielded a baseball team.  Next year’s projected budgetary shortfall is going to make the wait for America’s favorite pastime a little bit longer.

The idea of getting the Riverhawks back on the diamond has been in the works for a number of years. Over this past year, the issue had gained a lot of steam and appeared to be on the verge of becoming more of a reality than a possibility. 

Recently UCC’s Board of Directors and President, however, had to make the decision to put the brakes on the proposal for spring ball.

“In the 11th hour, the board and President Olson had to make the decision to not go forward with it next year,” Athletic Director Cheryl Yoder said. “A lot of it has to do with our current budgetary forecast for next year.”

Yoder is arguably one of the biggest supporters of UCC baseball, and despite many years of work in support of the issue, she understands and empathizes with why the decision was made.

“They have to make some serious cuts next year, and it would be very hard to justify cutting positions while we are adding something like baseball,” Yoder said. “I would never want to be in President Olson’s shoes and make these kinds of decisions. I know he was super supportive and wanted to see baseball happen.”   

“If you would have asked me a week ago, I would have said I was 99.9 percent sure, that yes, we’re going to do it.”

—Cheryl Yoder
Athletic Director

Still the disappointment was evident. “I was devastated,” Yoder commented. “I was confident we were getting baseball. If you would have asked me a week ago, I would have said I was 99.9 percent sure, that yes, we’re going to do it.”

Some would argue that prep-baseball is the most popular sport in Douglas County. From the Little League and Babe Ruth programs, all the way through high school and Legion play, by sheer numbers baseball is the most widely represented sport in the county. There was real hope that it could help boost enrollment numbers.

College President Joe Olson stated in a recent interview to Hannah Hawkins in the January 22 issue of The Mainstream , “It’s an extraordinarily popular sport in Douglas County, and many local players leave to play at other community colleges. This would be an effort to keep them in Douglas County.”

Keeping players in Douglas County could have translated into a recruiting advantage for the Riverhawks on the baseball diamond.

For some folks, there is still hope that they won’t have to wait another 25 years for baseball.

Spring sunshine illuminates Legion Field, the once proposed home of the 2015 Umpqua Community College baseball team.
Summer Hall / Mainstream
Spring sunshine illuminates Legion Field, the once proposed home of the 2015 Umpqua Community College baseball team.