The Springfield Lucky Horseshoes open their fifth season with something new: more say in Robin Roberts Stadium.
After the Springfield Park District transferred ownership to the city of Springfield at an Aug. 27 meeting, the city sold the stadium for $1 in November to Friends of Robin Roberts Stadium, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization which has promised to improve the 101-year-old ballpark. Friends of Robin Roberts Stadium are seeking donations to help offset the cost of planned improvements to the stadium.
The Lucky Horseshoes are a collegiate wood bat summer baseball team in the Prospect League which has called the field at the Lanphier Park facility home since Jamie Toole and several co-buyers purchased the Springfield Sliders in 2021. The Sliders began play at the same location in 2008 in the final season of the Central Illinois Collegiate League before the CICL became the Prospect League in 2009.
Last year, Lucky Horseshoes’ owner Toole said problems getting the park district to repair issues in a timely manner led to the cancellation of several games. Instead of a full 56-game schedule, the Horseshoes instead finished 51 games with a 13-38 record, the fewest wins in the league.
Former Springfield mayor Jim Langfelder told a reporter with The State Journal-Register last summer that Toole and the rest of the ownership group has endeared themselves as people who care about baseball in the capital city.
“I’ve never seen anyone embrace Robin Roberts Stadium … for Jamie Toole and his wife (Melissa Gaynor) to come in during a pandemic, during winter, it wasn’t the best of times to do something of that nature and have a cash outlay,” Langfelder said at the time. “They put the new scoreboard up, they have activities all throughout the year, that shows you they’re in it for the long haul. They’re in it for their love of sport, for their love of Springfield, and the quality-of-life factor.”
Sam Antonacci, a Sacred Heart-Griffin High School graduate and left fielder for the Chicago White Sox, played two games with the Sliders in 2021 and eight with the Lucky Horseshoes in 2022 to become the latest team alumni to play in Major League Baseball. According to the Prospect League website, he is one of at least 29 players to have played in the CICL/Prospect League and wind up in the MLB.
What else do fans need to know for the 2026 Springfield Lucky Horseshoes season?
The 56-game season opens for Springfield on the road Tuesday, May 26 against the Danville Dans before the Lucky Horseshoes’ open at home the next day against the same Dans. After spending two days on the road at the Dubois County Bombers, the Horseshoes spend the first weekend of the season back on the north side of town against the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp.
While most games begin at 6:30 p.m., the Sunday, May 31 game against the Pistol Shrimp begins at 5 p.m.
Where to buy tickets?
Single-game tickets can be purchased at the office on the east end of the stadium’s parking lot Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. The office is closed on holidays. Tickets can also be purchased at the box office, which opens an hour before first pitch. Tickets can also be purchased at this link.
Single-game tickets are available for purchase online or in person by credit card. For those using cash, the team can only accept exact change. General admission tickets are $12 while reserved seating is $14.
Are there local players on the team?
Yes, two of them (on the current roster). Currently, 2021 Gillespie High School graduate and current University of Illinois Springfield pitcher Anthony Ribes and 2021 North Mac graduate Kannon Kirk, who is on the Culver-Stockton College team.
Kirk will be joined by fellow Culver-Stockton players General Schofield and Brandon Valentin, along with Wildcats’ head coach Brad Gyorkos. If that name sounds familiar, it is. Gyorkos was the manager here in 2024 and returns to fill the vacancy left when Jason Hurst had to resign as the ‘Shoes field manager before the season started after Hurst was named head football coach at Brookwood High School in Thomasville, Georgia.
What else to know?
North Grand Avenue is closed to traffic from Ninth to 11th streets for construction of a railroad overpass, but the portion of North Grand in front of Memorial Stadium and Robin Roberts is open for access to the athletic facilities. Additional parking spots have been created beyond the right-field fence facing the railroad track east of North Michigan Avenue.
The regular season ends when Springfield travels to play the Alton River Dragons on Aug. 1. Division winners in the first and second halves of the season qualify for the playoffs, unless the same team wins both halves. In that case, the second-place team in the division from the second half shall qualify.
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: What to know as the 2026 Springfield Lucky Horseshoes season begins
Reporting by Ryan Mahan, Springfield State Journal-Register / State Journal-Register
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