MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The community and the staff at Visit Mountaineer Country Convention and Visitor’s Bureau are going back to a familiar playbook for the NCAA Baseball Regional this weekend.
Hannah Winnaught
CVB Communications Director Hannah Winnaught said the venue is different but many aspects of planning are similar to the NCAA Women’s Basketball Regional held in Morgantown recently.
“It feels like we just got off the high from March Madness and hosting NCAA Women’s Basketball,” Winnaught said Thursday on WAJR’s “Talk of the Town.” “It’s a similar setup from what we were doing a couple of months ago, and to be honest, we wouldn’t be able to do any of this without being able to rally together as a community.”
Tickets for the games through the weekend are sold out, but she said there are some reputable secondary ticket brokers online that can help fans. There are no firm numbers for the crowd expected to come to Granville, but Winnaught said it will likely add up to be a few thousand people.
“It looks like the ballpark will be filled throughout the entire weekend,” Winnaught said. “So, the ballpark holds up to 2,500 people plus standing room, so if we have that full all weekend, we’ll have a few thousand people in our area.”
West Virginia will play Binghamton Friday evening beginning at 5 o’clock. Wake Forest and Kentucky battle at noon Friday at Kendrick Family Ballpark.
Residents are advised to prepare for additional traffic in the Granville area, and Emmett Drive, a popular shortcut, will remain closed due to a slip. All of the ground routes in and around the Granville area are expected to be busier than normal, which could have many residents changing their weekend routines.
“They might stop somewhere before the game, and they might stop after the game—hopefully they do stop at a couple of places,” Winnaught said. “In general, it will be a little more congested, so take your time getting places.”
Unlike the most recent NCAA event, local hotels are able to handle all four teams. During the NCAA basketball regional, one of the teams and an unknown number of fans were forced to stay outside the area.
“Fortunately, this time we were able to host all of the teams in Monongalia County, so we’re thrilled to be able to do that,” Winnaught said. “That’s not to say there might be some fans that have to stay elsewhere, but we were actually able to get all the teams into Mon County hotels, which is huge for us.”
Winnaught said residents, along with businesses and their employees, will be big factors in the impression fans take home with them at the conclusion of play.
“We are very fortunate to be able to host something like this,” Winnaught said. “Many times, sports are people’s first introduction to West Virginia.”
