Mansfield opens Miracle League Field

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By Amanda Rogers

Mansfield Record

Some of baseball’s biggest fans now have their own place to play in Mansfield.

On Tuesday morning, the Fields at Station 63 opened a Miracle League Field for youngsters with special needs to play ball.

“To me this is a culmination of creating a community that is inclusive, where every citizen has a place to play and belong,” said Lindsay Cadenhead, president of the Mansfield Park Facilities Development Corporation.

The field is a new addition to the 40-acre baseball/softball complex, formerly known as Big League Dreams and Mansfield Sports Park, at 500 Heritage Parkway. Kemper Sports, which manages the city-owned park, converted a batting cage into the new field, adding to the complex’s eight sports fields.

The Miracle League Field has a 100-foot outfield and is modified to make it easier for youngsters with special needs to play.

“There’s no barriers that a grass field would have,” said Matt Young, the city’s executive director of community services. “It’s been a long time coming. There are hundreds of kids in Mansfield that don’t have a place to play. They have to drive to North Arlington to play at Randol Mill Park. To have one in their own backyard and not have to drive 45 minutes, it’s a big day for us.”

The $600,000 field was paid for by Kemper Sports, and includes a $25,000 donation from the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation.

The Miracle League Field is an important addition to the Fields at Station 63 and Mansfield, said Mayor Michael Evans.

“When we began the new partnership with Kemper Sports, we were adamant that the fields include a Miracle Field,” Evans said. “There has always been a section of children that didn’t get to play. That ends today. When we’re able to advocate for the parents and their babies, it says a lot about who we are. We know you will fill this field with laughter and real joy.”

Jessica Hinojosa can guarantee that.

“Families like ours that don’t get to play team sports, this is our team sports,” said Hinojosa, whose son, Evan, was one of the first on the field Tuesday morning. “We get to buy jerseys. We get to have our family come out and root for the game. It gives the childhood dream the chance to be fulfilled.”

Hinojosa, who is also a member of the Mansfield Park Facilities Corporation, has attended many Miracle League games with her son, Evan, 13, who has Trisomy 4, a rare genetic condition that means Evan has global delays and challenges.

None of that deters Evan from smacking a ball from his wheelchair, and he’s really good at it. While other special-needs athletes posed for photos with Texas Rangers announcer Chuck Morgan and Texas Rangers alumni Mike Adams, Jerry Browne, Larry Hardy and Leon Roberts on Tuesday morning, Evan headed straight for the field.

Miracle League games will start in March 2027 at the new Mansfield field, but players, parents and fans can get on the field this fall during an open house and clinics at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 13, Nov. 17, Dec. 15, Jan. 19 and Feb. 16.  For more information about the Mansfield Miracle League, go to info@miracleleague.org.