The Lacassine Cardinals and Lady Cardinals baseball and softball teams will soon have a place to call home.

After years of playing on other people’s fields, the two teams will hopefully have their own field by the 2025 spring season, according to Lacassine High School Principal Rhoda Corkran.

“The program has been in place for several years, but they never had a home field to play on,” Corkran said. “We have always been at the mercy of whoever would let us use their field.”

The teams have had to practice and play on fields in Jennings, Iowa and at the Lacassine Community Center while they hoped to one day have their own home field.

“We are so grateful to all the great places that have given our students an opportunity to play on their fields while we waited to have our own place,” Corkran said.

“It is a big deal to our parents, the students and our schools because they have worked so hard for this and waited so long,” she continued.  “I can’t wait to see red and white uniforms play ball on their very own field and I can’t wait to see families in the stands cheering on our Cardinals.”

Planning for the new complex began several years ago when the school purchased a 20-acre off-campus site just west of La. 101, south of the railroad tracks.

“That was the first step in realizing a home field for Lacassine was going to be a reality one day,” Corkran said.

An anonymous donor donated $100,000 to kickstart the project last year. The school then received a $300,000 grant from the State of Louisiana Treasury Department.

“That really gave us the boost to move forward,” Corkran said.

The complex will be used by junior high and high school teams.

“We’re very excited for our baseball and softball players to have a place of their own and a place in Lacassine where they can play ball, make memories and it is theirs,” she said. “They have kind of been roaming, but I wanted them to have a place they could play that would be their own. A place that is red and white and where people can drive five minutes to watch a game and not have to drive 15-25 minutes to watch a game.”

It will also be a place students can connect with their friends and a place where parents can come watch their Lacassine Cardinal or Lady Cardinal play on a Lacassine field, she said.

Corkran said parents and the community are just as excited about the field as the students and coaches.

“They want them to have a place to play and include their community,” she said. “They want that hometown feeling and home field advantage that they can only get on their own field.”

Corkran said progress is being made on the new field with irrigation and dirt work completed and a fence installed surrounding the site. Officials hope grass will be covering the field by the spring season and concrete sidewalks will be added to the site, along with a backstop..

Future plans are to add bleachers, a concession stand, restrooms and lights, but more funding and sponsorships will be needed, she said.

“We are looking forward to the continued community support and are open to sponsorships to continue to move the project forward,” she said.

Anyone interested in supporting the Lacassine Cardinals and Lady Cardinals is asked to contact the school.