For generations, baseball fanatics of all ages have competed on the SunUte Community Center’s baseball fields adjacent from the now Piinu Nuuchi Skate Park, from youth baseball to annual softball tournaments the facility has been well loved by many. SunUte and Great Western Sport Fields have worked together over the last three months to give the field an extensive remodel, headed up by Sport Field Specialist, Doug Abe, this remodel features laser graded sand, new batter’s box, pitcher’s mound and more – creating a multi-use field to continue to benefit the tribal community and Ignacio.
Abe grew up farming in Wyoming, later he relocated to Northern New Mexico where he worked as a groundskeeper at San Juan College. He then began his own landscaping business and went to work for the city of Farmington in 2012 as a foreman and then in 2017 as the superintendent. With extensive knowledge and dedication to the art of field maintenance, he began working with Great Western Sport Fields, transforming fields throughout Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.
“[Great Western Sport Fields] love to help rebuild professional fields and fields in small communities all over, we are fortunate enough to come and work for the Southern Ute people, we even redid their softball field,” Abe said. “This baseball field had a grass infield, so we removed that and now the field can be used as multipurpose – baseball, softball, and even kick ball. There is two sets of bases, a softball pitching rubber, and portable mound for baseball.”
SunUte began working with Great Western Sport Fields following a re-leveling project that took place in May of 2024, extremely happy with their quality of work SunUte applied for a baseball field remodel by presenting their needs to Tribal Council, the Executive Office, and Finance. With the final approval of the project, updates began earlier this year. Great Western Sports Field provides top tier sports field construction, maintenance, repair services and equipment tailored to the diverse needs of sports fields. Serving the Four Corners region, their services cover every aspect of sports field care and with incredibly knowledgeable staff, they are committed to excellence.
“Following my retirement from Farmington, my current boss approached me and said, ‘let’s bring our work all over and grow,’” Abe said. “Since then we have done a lot of ball fields in Phoenix, we’ve done the Milwaukee Brewers, Diamondbacks – we’re getting all over the place and I just love doing this work, there is nothing better than me being able to give my service to a player and help them be the best they can be.”
SunUte Recreation Manager, Kelsey Frost, looks forward to seeing people utilize this facility and the overall benefit to our community. “[The new field] is gonna have a great impact when it comes to our youth, the softball and baseball fields aren’t just used by SunUte recreation for our programming or for people in our community who like to go out there for batting practice, it’s for everyone. The Ignacio Youth Baseball, they actually use our fields too, they will use it for t-ball through 12U games, so it’s really important that we have a well maintained and safe field for those kids.”
“This year softball will be making a big comeback, especially with SunUte’s [Southern Ute Tribal Fair] tournament, this new field is going to help us out a lot because we use both fields, and now we don’t have to worry about the infield grass,” Frost said. “It’s all just new infield mix, and we will be able to allow even more teams to come play, SunUte programming in general will be able to expand.”
With the new updates to the SunUte Community Center’s, now multipurpose field, players of all ages are encouraged to come check out the facilities. From baseball to kickball, all surrounding community members and even those who are further away are welcome to enjoy the field. SunUte Community Center is also gearing up for the 103rd annual Southern Ute Tribal Fair with their fan favorite softball tournament; dates are slated for Friday, Sept. 12 through Sunday, Sept. 14. For more information or to enter a team contact Kelsey Frost at (970) 563-2660, email kfrost@southernute-nsn.gov, or reach out to SunUte on Facebook.
“The owners of [Great Western Sport Fields], Ben Hatch and his two sons Trevor and Matthew, really strive in giving back to the community and bringing a positive playing surface for the kids to go out there and be the best athlete that they can,” Abe said. “That’s my biggest thrill is making the field playable, safe, and giving those kids an opportunity to one day become a professional through those fields.”