The Marion Berries, Salem’s new summer collegiate baseball team, are just weeks away from debuting but won’t play their first game at home as planned.

The team’s season will begin with an away game against the Ridgefield Raptors on Tuesday, June 3, rather than the May 30 home game they had planned to open with.

Construction delays have pushed back the team’s first home game at Willamette University’s baseball field bordering Bush’s Pasture Park until June 23, against the Corvallis Knights. The Salem Baseball Club LLC, the for-profit company behind the team, announced the delays on Friday.

The Marion Berries will still play over 30 home games this summer. Their debut season will be played on grass because turf won’t be installed until the winter.

They will play as the 17th member of the West Coast League which has teams in Oregon, Washington and Canada. The Marion Berries’ name was inspired by berry’s connection to Marion County, where it was developed, and the fruit’s marketing versatility.

Most games will start at 6:30 p.m., while Sunday games will start at 5 p.m.

Single-game tickets start at $8. Pat Zajac, the team’s general manager, said he expects them to go on sale Friday, May 16.

Mini plans, which include up to 10 games, and season tickets are on sale now. They can be bought online.

People can also purchase a $50 “Berry Pass,” which gets kids 14 and under a free general admission ticket to all home games and admission to 12 other local attractions between June 1 and Sept. 1. 

Locations include Enchanted Forest, Get Air Trampoline Park, Salem’s Riverfront Carousel, the Willamette Heritage Center, the Salvation Army KROC Center and the Salem YMCA’s swimming pool. Find more information about the pass online.

A key focus for the club has been creating a family-friendly atmosphere in the stadium, with some ideas inspired by community feedback, according to Zajac.

They are planning events such as Star Wars themed nights, trick-or-treat events and merchandise giveaways.

The concession stand, called “The Batting Cage,” will also have themed snacks such as barbeque pulled pork sliders with a marionberry drizzle.

The Marion Berries have around 45 players on their roster, all current or incoming collegiate athletes.

Zajac said the team is centered around developing its players. “How do we help serve them best on their their professional careers, whether that’s in baseball or not, and just develop positive role models for whatever communities they end up serving down the road?” he said.

Once turf is installed, the stadium will also be open to high schools throughout the Willamette Valley whose fields are rained out.

The summer schedule will allow players to continue playing during their collegiate offseason.

Zajac said some Marion Berries players didn’t get as much field time as much as they would’ve liked during their spring collegiate season. “Now, this is their opportunity to showcase to their college programs what they can do and how they’re developing and also, by extension, Major League Baseball front offices and scouting departments that might be looking to draft and sign these guys down the road,” he said.

The West Coast League’s partnership with Major League Baseball allows stadiums like the Marion Berries’ to be outfitted with analytical equipment, so players can review film and statistics after every game and track their improvement.

Zajac said he looks forward to the first Marion Berries player being drafted to a major league team.

“It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when,” he said.

The team will have two mascots: a black berry named Barry, and a second character who will be debuted sometime in the middle of the season.

“I don’t want to reveal too much,” Zajac said of the second mascot, “but he’s going to be a little more outlandish, and we’re going to have some fun.”

Zajac said the Portland Pickles will be a tough challenge as the defending champions, and he hopes to build a rivalry between the two teams. They first play each other on June 6.

“We’ll be serving skewered pickles at the games when the Pickles are in town, which I think people will get a kick out of,” he said. “We’re the new kid on the block. We’ve got to take advantage and ruffle some feathers a little bit.”

He also expects a top competitor in the Corvallis Knights, who previously won the league several years in a row.

Zajac said he senses “a lot of passion and excitement” from the Salem community not for the team, but for a new consistent summer activity they can count on.

“We just want to champion and be a part of all the good that Salem is putting out there and trying to get done as a city, as a community,” he said.

He also looks forward to fans getting to see the stadium in its final form. “It’s going to be a really intimate, cool place to watch a ball game,” he said.

The Marion Berries’ full, updated schedule is available online.

Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.

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