| The 2016 Mideast Regional champion will be crowned at Ross Memorial Field for the second straight year. Washington and Jefferson athletics photo |
Sites for all eight 2016 NCAA regionals have been awarded. Five were announced in November 2015.
Last year's D-III College World Series teams, Webster and Cortland State, will enjoy home cooking as they aim to return to Appleton, Wisc. for the 2016 Series. Joining the Gorloks and Red Dragons as hosts will be Misericordia, Washington & Jefferson and Whitworth.
Eastern Connecticut State and UW-La Crosse were added as host teams in December for the New England and Midwest Regionals. Berry, the South Regional host was announced in April.
The official announcement on the teams heading to the eight regional sites will be determined on May 16. A six team tournament would run May 18-21; an eight team bracket would run May 18-22.
Berry will host either a six or eight team bracket, depending on NCAA selection at William R. Bowdoin Field. Built in 1988 to coincide with the resurrection of Berry's baseball program, Bowdoin Field has undergone extensive renovations in the past several years to become a premier small college baseball facility.
Webster will host the Central Regional at GCS Ballpark, located across from the Gateway Arch, in Sauget, IL. GCS Ballpark, home to the Webster since 2004, has a capacity of 6,000 fans with field box, bleacher, and lawn seating. In 2005, GCS was named Ballpark of the Year by digitalballparks.com.
Cortland State will host for the second straight year as the New York Regional returns to Falcon Park in Auburn New York. Falcon Park is the home field of the Auburn Doubledays minor league baseball team. Originally built in 1927, the facility was rebuilt in 1995 and holds 2,800.
Washington & Jefferson will also repeat as hosts in 2016. They submitted the winning bid for the Mideast Regional to be held at their home field, Ross Memorial Field in Washington, Pa. Four hundred chairback seats surround Ross Memorial Park.
Misericordia will host the Mid-Atlantic Regional at PNC Park. PNC Field is a 10,000-seat minor league stadium located in Moosic, Pa. It is the home of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, the AAA affiliate of the New York Yankees.
Whitworth hosts the fifth site that was announced and will hold the 2015 West Regional at Avista Stadium. Avista Stadium, the home of the A short-seaon Spokane Indians, seats 8.400. Since 1997, the field at Avista Stadium has been recognized as "Northwest League Field of the Year" an amazing ten times.
In December UW-La Crosse was selected as a repeat host for the second straight year. The regional will be held at Copeland Park. Copeland Park, also referred to as "The Lumber Yard," is the home field of the La Crosse Loggers baseball team and seats 3,500.
Eastern Connecticut State was approved as the host of the New England Regional to be held at ECSU’s baseball stadium in Mansfield, Conn. ECSU last hosted in 2012 and this is the ninth time since 1993 that the Warriors served as the Regional host. The stadium seats 1,500 spectators and includes a new lighting system installed this month.