Prep baseball: Cardinal Newman, Ukiah to battle at Giants’ Oracle Park this spring

Sonoma and Mendocino counties, get ready to meet Oracle Park.

For the first time, two local high school baseball teams will take to the San Francisco Giants’ home field for a league game later this spring.

Cardinal Newman and Ukiah, which finished first and second, respectively, in the North Bay League Oak division last season, will go at it Saturday, April 13 as part of a two-game high school showcase at Oracle Park.

The Cardinals and Wildcats will play in the day’s second game, at 1 p.m. Clayton Valley Charter and Freedom will play at 10 a.m.

“When you’ve got the opportunity to play at a major league ballpark, it’s tough to say no,” Cardinal Newman head coach Derek DeBenedetti said. “It gives us a chance to showcase area baseball, and I hope this opportunity continues to open up doors for teams in this area.”

It will serve as the Cardinals’ home game for this season’s league series. Ukiah’s home game against the Cardinals will be moved up to Wednesday, April 10.

It’s the first time a showcase like this has been put on by the Giants. Newman was on a shortlist of teams in contention to be invited. The Cardinals drew the lucky straw and in turn started talking to other NBL teams in order to find an opponent for the game. Ukiah was the first one to jump at the chance.

The Giants will be on a road trip to Florida to play the Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins at the time of the high school games.

Both school’s players will get an up-close chance to experience baseball on a major league field. Oracle Park’s dimensions are 339 feet to the left-field foul pole, 399 feet in left-center, 391 feet to straight center, 415 feet to right-center field (better known as Triples Alley) and 309 feet to the right-field corner.

“It will be fun to see the boys try to maneuver themselves in a different environment,” Ukiah head coach Aaron Ford said. “Depending on how the field is playing that day, we have to be prepared.”

In contrast, at Anton Stadium in Ukiah — the home of the Wildcats — the deepest dimension is 398 feet to right center. The other measurements are 335 feet down the left-field line, 360 feet to center, 389 feet to left center and 300 down the right-field line.

To attend the Oracle Park game, fans must purchase tickets to a regular-season Giants game before the April 13 game day. The purchase will then grant access to complimentary tickets for the high school game and includes a $2 donation back to the high school program. The Giants tickets purchased, of course, are good for the MLB club’s game.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime scenario,” Ford said. “This means a lot. To have an opportunity to play at the Giants ballpark, most of our guys have been Giants fans since they were born ... some of our guys haven’t even had the chance to go to San Francisco and watch the Giants. So for some families to get that chance and watch our high school program, I can’t put it into words how blessed it is for these kids.”

The Cardinal Newman and Ukiah teams are looking to sell 500 tickets each and are sharing links for purchases with fans and school supporters.

For Cardinal Newman, click here.

For Ukiah, click here.

You can reach Staff Writer Kienan O’Doherty at 415-887-8650 or kienan.odoherty@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @kodoherty22.