The Faribault Falcon baseball team will have their season opener Thursday at Bell Field and the field has a new look.

The left field fencing has been moved in and extended upward. City Parks and Recreation Director Paul Penansky tells KDHL the bicycle trail hookup in North Alexander Park will go behind the outfield fencing so the left field fence was moved in 15 feet. Left field used to be 324 feet from home plate and now it's 309. The fencing was also extended upward to 15 feet.

The Falcons host the North Branch Vikings, and it'll be a homecoming for their head coach Steve Christiansen. Christiansen graduated from Faribault HIgh School and worked with first-year Falcon head coach Charlie Lechtenberg with the summer baseball program in the past.

North Branch is named for the north branch of the Sunrise River, which flows through the Chisago County city. The school district includes parts of Chisago and Isanti counties and the school is about an hour and 15 minutes from Faribault. The Vikings are in the Mississippi 8 Conference and have five returning starters from last year's 5-15 team.

Faribault ended last season with a 7-15 overall mark and 5-12 in the Big Nine just one year after winning the conference co-championship with Winona. The Falcons knocked off the Owatonna Huskies 8-4 in the first round of the playoffs last year after being swept by them during the conference season by scores of 5-2 and 9-2. Faribault then fell to Lakeville South 2-0 to end their season.

Lechtenberg is pretty excited to get the season underway. He told us Saturday on the Faribault Coaches Show at Bashers knowing these players certainly makes it easier for him. The Falcon graduate also coached the Faribault Lakers amateur team that played on the final day of their state tournament last September in Jordan.

Another new thing found at Bell Field for the high school games this spring will be Bashers providing food in the concession stand. Jerry Kes tells us the opener will feature hot dogs, popcorn and cold drinks.

Below is a picture of the extended left field fence at Bell Field. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. Our first Falcon broadcast will be on POWER 96 95.9FM and power96radio.com on April 21 in Winona.

Left field fence at Bell Field
Left field fence at Bell Field
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