Following the 4th Annual Rippey Ruckus is a slough of high school baseball games to be played at Walt Anderson Field in Rippey.

Rippey Baseball Commission Promoter Bruce Thome says they started having Iowa High School Athletic Association-sanctioned baseball games two years ago with only four games. They are up to six games that include teams from Class 1A through Class 4A with ranked teams coming from across the state. 

Thome points out one way they get teams to schedule games on the neutral site in Rippey is by former players that had games there when they were in high school. The example he gives is a game from this year with Interstate-35 against Iowa Falls-Alden on June 1st.

“I believe it’s Interstate-35’s head coach, played at a small school, and actually I think he said that maybe he played in Rippey like when he was a senior from 2010, 11, or 12 something like that, he wanted to bring his team up there. So that’s cool.”  

Thome says other ways they entice teams to play games in Rippey is from the January clinics that are held in the Cedar Rapids area every year and by word of mouth. He describes what he believes makes games at Walt Anderson Field so special for high school players.

“You know, we’re selling the memories, we’re putting out memories. And that’s something that you know this could be something like the ballpark like maybe their kids have played on or something, or like your parents, or grandparents. It’s just making memories.”   

Thome is also working to bring local vendors to the ballpark to sell their food as another way to get local exposure to visitors. He mentions the high school games at $5 per person. The current schedule can be found below.