At Grainger Stadium, there will be baseball.
There will not be Scotty McCreery.
Rumors of the North Carolina country singer holding a concert at the stadium are untrue, but an effort was made.
“We had inquired about him coming, but he doesn’t normally play that small of a venue,” said Bill Ellis, director of the Kinston-Lenoir County Department of Parks and Recreation. “And it’s cost-prohibitive. You’ve got to have enough seats to make the money. Because an artist like him costs anywhere between $150,000-$200,000.”
Capacity at the ballpark rests at 4,100. A sell-out crowd would have to foot a $36.59-$48.78 apiece ticket cost at the outset, not to mention the other costs of running the facility and other needs, for the event to simply break even.
McCreery will be in Myrtle Beach, S.C. on May 26 and at the State Fair in Raleigh on Oct. 21.
As for other events through the year, there will be baseball. Kinston High School plays four more games at the venue, including an April 17 tilt against South Lenoir, and Arendell Parrott Academy hosts a game on Tuesday.
The recent time without a farm club at the stadium isn’t unusual in Kinston baseball history.
“Every time the minor league game has deserted this tight-knit little community along the banks of the Neuse River, it has returned a little stronger and a little healthier than before,” Josh Pahigian wrote in his 2007 book “The Ultimate Minor League Baseball Road Trip.”
Grainger went empty for several years in the late ’50s and early ’60s, and again in the ’70s. The relationship with the Cleveland Indians kept baseball in Kinston for an uninterrupted quarter-century.
Work goes on to bring a team back to town.
“We’re trying to get one,” Ellis said. “There won’t be one in 2013, but we’re working to get one in 2014. There are more cities that want baseball teams than there are teams to go around.”
He added, “Ideally, we’d like an affiliated team, in the Rookie league to A league, somewhere in that range. That would be ideally, but an independent team is a possibility.”
Through the summer, most baseball played at Grainger will be for a select group of people — college coaches and Major League scouts.
Carolina Canes Showcase Baseball, the Carolina Cubs, Impact Baseball and Baseball Recruit host high school baseball players at the stadium for events running from May to October.
“They are showcases, meaning the teams will be coming in to showcase their talent to scouts,” KLCPR Programs Director Jenny Inabinet said.
Additionally, three American Legion games dot the calendar. Swansboro plays Dixon in a June 8 doubleheader, and Jacksonville Post 278 will host a game at the stadium on June 25.
Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 or wes.wolfe@kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @WolfeReports.