Sites announced for state baseball

The road to the state baseball tournament usually leads to Principal Park in Des Moines, but the tournament will make a detour in 2021. In fact, it will make a couple of them.

If any of the Union area small schools make state, they’ll be in for a long road trip. The Class 1A and 2A tournaments will be played at Merchants Park in Carroll. The Class 3A and 4A tournaments will be played in Iowa City at Duane Banks Field, home of the Iowa Hawkeye baseball team.

“The last 15 months have been filled with changes and constantly-evolving plans, and this tournament is no exception,” Iowa High School Athletic Association Executive Director Tom Keating said. “We’re excited to have two high-quality hosts in Carroll and the University of Iowa where our student-athletes can make memories and compete for state championships.”

The state tournament has been played at Principal Park in Des Moines from 2005-2020. Conflicting dates with the new Minor League Baseball schedules caused the change for 2021.

The IHSAA has not determined where future tournaments will take place, according to a news release from the state association.

The tournaments will take place in late July. Class 1A and 2A will play from July 26-29, and the Class 3A and 4A schools will play from July 28-31.

It will be the first time Iowa City has hosted state baseball. Merchants Park in Carroll, formerly named Carroll Baseball Stadium, hosted the tournament in 1970 and 1973, and then served as a venue from the mid 1990s until 2005.