Sun Patriot Waconia Guide 2025 | Page 49

WACONIA

COMMUNITY | GUIDE 2025

Watch a game from the grandstand

Baseball in Waconia has become a staple. After years of hardship, the alumni of Waconia High School have worked hard to make Lions Field a destination, and years of unheralded work has made a dream into reality. Lions Field now features a new grandstand, where the facilities try to live up to the play on the field.
The Waconia grandstand is a newly-built facility that serves more than 400 fans with amenities including a concession stand, ADA compliant restrooms and a new press box. Seating includes Metrodome seats, bleacher-style seating and plaza patio areas. On both sides of the grandstand there is a plaza space for viewing the game over the dugouts and mingling with friends.
And for a city that has been building a baseball powerhouse, the great atmosphere in the stands reflects great play on the field.
The Waconia baseball program has been sending collegiate athletes onto further pursuits for years, and while the Wildcats and the Lakers have been successful, they have yet to reach their peak.
The Lakers have become a powerhouse in the Crow River Valley League, with Waconia residents taking to the diamond
and delivering numerous state tournament appearances. The Wildcats, the high school team, have reached a No. 1 ranking in Class AAA and that is only the beginning for players, coaches and fans that are connected to the community.
Lions Field is a place where families can gather on a summer day, as kids dream of their future on the diamond, while members of the community gather to raise funds for those in need. As adults mingle and talk about what is happening in the area, kids race each other to grab the foul ball that they can hand to their in-town idols.
Whether you watch the Lakers or the Wildcats, fun is to be had and a win is likely, as Waconia baseball finally has a grandstand to live up to the atmosphere in the stands and the play on the field.
In 2021, the community hosted the Minnesota State Amateur Baseball Tournament for the first time ever. Waconia co-hosted the 2021 version with nearby Chaska and Hamburg.
Waconia Lions Field also hosted two other major tournaments in 2021- the Junior Legion Baseball Tournament and the Gopher State Classic. In 2025, Lions Field hosted the second annual Minnesota Baseball Day.
2025 | WACONIA COMMUNITY GUIDE | 49