By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
The 16th season of Mustangs baseball begins tonight.
A roster with several returning faces, and several new faces as well take the field tonight at Phil Welch Stadium for Opening Day.
Owner and General Manager Ky Turner says after working all year to get to this day, it's a fun and fulfilling feeling to start a new season
"I use the word a little bit nervous, just because we don't want to screw some stuff up, we've set a standard for ourselves that I think is pretty good," Turner tells reporters. "So, we want to reach that standard and then continue to climb that ladder just to build that guest experience."
The Mustangs are coming off a season in which they won their ninth championship. Turner says it's hard to say how that can be topped.
Tuner says they can't ask the team to beat teams by more runs and can't take more than first place, but winning a championship is incredible
"Every one of them means something, they're incredible, you know last year told a story, every summer tells a different story," Turner explains. "Last year was a little written for us with Dan's (Gerson) passing to see what it was going to look like, and I don't know that's what the fun part is just to see what's going to happen this year to write a new chapter in that Mustangs history book is something we look forward to."
New at the stadium this year, is a new video board atop the scoreboard. Turner says the new addition is exciting to help enhance the fan experience at Phil Welch Stadium
"We don't want to rely solely on the board, you know say here it is, look we still want to have that fan engagement that's personable, I think that's important we don't want to lose touch with that, but this absolutely allows us to enhance some of the things we're doing," Turner says. "We're so thankful for the opportunity from the city and the parks tax that was passed, then also the people who help supported, the 1939 Club."
Turner says now they get to look to what their next project could be to continue enhancing Phil Welch into the new century
The Mustangs take on a new opponent tonight, the northeast Missouri Craze. First pitch is at 6:30, a new first pitch time during weekdays with gates opening at 5:15.
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.