2 minute read

Capaha Field

REDHAWK BASEBALL

Capaha Field is the home of Southeast MIssouri Baseball. SEMO Baseball has called Capaha Field home since the program’s inception in 1959.

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Located just two blocks west of SEMO’s campus, Capaha Field is owned and operated by the City of Cape Girardeau. It is also the home to wood bat Prospect League member Cape Catfish.

Prior to the 2020 season, SEMO opened a state-of-the-art baseball training facility adjacent to Capaha Field along the third base side.

The 4,000-square foot indoor facility can fit up to four batting cages, has portable pitching mounds and is equipped with HitTrax and Rapsodo technology which helps improve overall player performance.

The HitTrax system provides real-time statistics and performance metrics. It measures exit velocity, launch angle and strike zone analysis.

Meanwhile, the Rapsodo program is designed to provide instant data on pitch velocity, spin rate and release angle. It also has strike zone analysis and can track progress over time with historical and statistical analytics.

SEMO’s indoor hitting facility was built at a cost of $400,000.

In summer 2019, Capaha Field received major upgrades that included new lights, freshly painted areas, chairback seating, a newly paved walking plaza and a home run deck located in right field.

Two years before that, Capaha Field received a $1.8 million renovation that featured synthetic turf. Other upgrades to the facility included a scoreboard equipped with video capabilities, a new outfield fence, new bullpens and additional cosmetic upgrades such as new paint and fencing all around the field.

The Capaha Field press box, completed for the start of the 2006 season, is equipped with televisions, kitchen/lounge areas and restrooms, and provides media and staff an excellent view behind home plate.

Capaha Field is nestled in historic Capaha Park, the oldest park in Cape Girardeau’s park system. In addition to the ballpark, Capaha Park has playgrounds, a pond, picnic areas, a band shell, rose garden, splash pad and disc golf course.

Capacity of Capaha Field is 2,000 and dimensions are 330 down the lines, 375 to the alleys and 400 to straightaway center field. The outfield wall is nine feet high.

Fans enjoy cheering on the Redhawks from the hillsides behind the first base dugout and beyond the left field wall.

SEMO consistently leads the Ohio Valley Conference in home attendance. Over 160,000 fans have flocked to Capaha Field to watch the Redhawks.

In their OVC Championship seasons from 2014-2016, the Redhawks had over 46,000 fans for an average of 750 per game, while posting a 47-16 home record in that span.

The Cape Capahas, the oldest amateur baseball team in America, also calls Capaha Field home.

REDHAWK BASEBALL