NJC to host Military Appreciation Night baseball game at Plainsmen Park

Northeastern Junior College will turn Plainsmen Park into a Military Appreciation Night venue on Tuesday, June 23, bringing the U.S. Military WarDogs Baseball team to Sterling for a game against the Mile High Collegiate Baseball League All-Stars. The matchup will place NJC’s home field on Verde Avenue at the center of a Logan County gathering built around baseball, veterans and civic pride.

The setting matters as much as the schedule. Plainsmen Park sits on the north side of Sterling and includes a clubhouse, two batting cages and a grandstand for fans, giving NJC a campus venue that can handle more than a standard home date. The college has already used the park for its 3rd Annual Pack the Park event on May 2, when gates opened at 5 p.m. and first pitch followed at 5:30 p.m., reinforcing the field’s role as a community space as well as a baseball home.

The WarDogs bring a purpose that goes beyond competition. The organization says it was created in 2018 through the Forever Never Forgotten nonprofit and uses baseball to support military members, give back to veterans and honor the fallen. It says its games are designed to raise awareness of challenges facing veterans, including PTSD, unemployment, homelessness and suicide, while reaching veterans across the United States through a military-connected roster and a traveling schedule.

That makes the June 23 event more than a summer exhibition. The WarDogs say they play collegiate league and first responder teams around the country, and their farm system is made up of current and prior service members competing in men’s wood-bat leagues. For Sterling and the wider county, the game will give students, families, baseball fans and military supporters a shared public event on a campus that already serves as one of the community’s most visible gathering places.

The opponent also fits into a broader summer baseball calendar. The Mile High Collegiate Baseball League says it is in its 15th season and runs a June-to-July schedule with 28 to 34 games, making the June 23 matchup part of the region’s regular summer circuit. In Logan County, that puts NJC in the role of host institution, linking local sports with a military salute and a campus event that is meant to draw the community together.