Blake Evans Mike Tettamble Ricky Meinhold Justin Skinner

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Drury Panther Baseball 2008
MEADOR PARK AND THE DRURY BASEBALL FACILITIES
The Drury baseball program has benefited greatly
in their startup program from the help of several
area businesses in providing donations of goods and
services to help give the Panthers top-notch facilities
in which to hone their games.
Chief among those has been the complete
transformation of the venerable Meador Park in
south Springfield into the quality home of the Drury
Panthers.
Built in 1964, what was once the home of the NCAA
Division I Missouri State Bears has sat relatively
dormant in the 21st century, but has undergone an
extreme makeover in becoming the new park for the
new DU baseball program.
“Meador Park used to be the jewel for people to
play on,” said Stratton, who played on the field as
a Hillcrest High School Hornet in the early 1970s
and coached there while at Glendale for nearly 20
years afterward.
“We’re in the process of getting it back to that status,
and we’ve already come a long way.”
Without question, that mission was in part
accomplished by a late-season stamp of approval
from the Missouri State High School Activities
Association. Needing a place to host its state baseball
championships in a pinch with the University of
Missouri’s field in Columbia in use for an NCAA
regional last June, MSHSAA turned its attention to
Springfield and Meador Park.
Despite a brief tussle with heavy rains, and thanks
to the immaculate work of the Drury coaching
staff/grounds crew, the state championships went
on without a hitch – so much so, that MSHSAA
recently announced a new four-year agreement to
continue to play the state’s pinnacle prep events at
Drury’s home ballpark.
The dimensions of Meador remain the same –
approximately 350 feet down the lines, 365 feet in
the power alleys and 380 to dead center – but the
list of improvements is numerous. They include a
resurfaced infield, an in-ground irrigation system, the
installation of protective nylon netting throughout, a
beautiful, all-brick backstop, a new paint job for the
entire facility, a new high-tech scoreboard and public
address system and the addition of 155 chair-back
seats behind home plate, among other upgrades.
On campus, Stratton and his staff – again with the
help of several local donors – have turned what once
was the Tindle Mills farm supply building on the
southeast edge of campus into an indoor training
facility complete with a synthetic rubber floor in
the 6,400-square foot training, weights and locker
area, an artificial turf surface in the 7,500 square
foot practice area, locker rooms and offices for both
the baseball and DU softball programs, three batting
cages, three pro pitching mounds and approximately
$40,000 worth of weights and training equipment.
Altogether, the facilities are viewed as a key
component in the building of a winning tradition
with the return of Drury baseball.