Lismore Baseball was decimated by last year's floods, so much so that this Saturday is the first official game back at Albert Park since February 28 2022.

There are a lot of eager players, spectators and families ready for the first pitch from 8am as the familiar crack of bat on ball or ball hitting glove returns. This year also happens to be the 75th anniversary of North's Baseball Club to make it even more special.

North's President Tim Starr told the Lismore App this is the start of a new era for the club.

"Since the floods, we lost the Richmond Hotel, which has been our major sponsor for a number of years. So, this is a new era as we are entering into a new agreement with the guys here at the Lismore City Bowling Club. We see it as a great opportunity for a mutual relationship, not only just to run the Joker once again, but to host some good events in a great family atmosphere."

A win for the Lismore City Bowling Club as well, they too were smashed last year and only reopened their doors to the public in November 2022.

(Tim, Justin, John, Mark and Clint at the Lismore City Bowling Club bar)

Board member John Perry welcomed the new relationship between North's and the City Bowlo.

"We're trying to put the club back on the map so it becomes a destination not just a regular club. North's will bring in regulars on a Friday night so it benefits us as well."

The first big Joker draw will happen at 6:30pm each Friday night with $500 to be won first up with the money jackpotting if it isn't won. There will be five $50 meat trays and two $50 club vouchers to be won also Friday night.

To give you some perspective of the mammoth task that confronted North's, Far North Coast Baseball and council, who look after the Albert Park Baseball Fields, take a look at the photos below.

That was just after the State and Federal Government spent upwards of $6 million on the facility to make it the premiere baseball venue on the North Coast.

Justin Cooper described the damage, "We lost the clubhouse, all the fields, the back nets. We had grounds turned back into paddocks that were washed away. We lost electricity to the whole facility because the transformers were damaged but the physical light towers were ok. Whole batting tunnels were washed away. We had containers floating through the grounds, taking out fences and dugouts, and it was pretty catastrophic."

"We couldn't just go in there with some brooms and a hose to clean it up. The cost was in the hundreds of thousands of dollars."

The other significant issue was the loss of all the baseball gear so no one could even swing a bat because there were no bats. The storage shed was above 1974 levels and as we know, that was nowhere near high enough this time.

Once word spread about the February flood and the impact it had on Albert Park and the local clubs, the support from Baseball Australia, Baseball NSW and Queensland plus individual clubs from all over the country flowed in to support Far North Coast Baseball.

There was a prominent GoFundMe page from a player competing in the States, kit donations, balls, bats, insurance policies and more.

"It wasn't a case that we didn't have fields to play on, we had had nothing to play with," Justin explained, "So, we've been slowly rebuilding and waiting for council to have the crew and resources to be able to go out and do the repairs. We're talking structural repairs like huge poles, 12-metre footings and fencing. A massive task."

Due to some Build Back Better work completed after the 2017 flood some of the rebuild has been quicker such as the footings while other improvements will see that continued such as the kitchen, it can be washed out so a full replacement will not occur when the next major flood hits.

You can understand why it has taken fourteen months to get the field, and baseball gear, back to where games can be played starting with the juniors this Saturday and seniors will start their season in the first week of May. There are still a few testing problems to attend to before seniors can take the field.

There was an All-Star game last weekend to test run Albert Park with Mayor Krieg throwing the first pitch (by all reports the Mayor has quite a good arm). Some juniors have been playing up at the Gold Coast (those that want to go to the next level) or there has been a trip south to Coffs Harbour. Otherwise, the sport has lost quite a few younger athletes to other winter sports like rugby and AFL. Tim, Justin and Clint are calling for all young kids to get back to baseball once again and for those that have never tried their arm, to register and give it a go. Drive down to 347 Keen Street, East Lismore at 8am this Saturday.

Hopefully, now there will be some action at Albert Park once again, some of the big tournaments will come back to the city.

"Prior to the flood, we were holding the Little League Nationals here, Justin explained, "We had Schoolboy Championships, we had under 18 Championships."

"We gave up the Little League just doing the right thing, knowing that the town couldn't deal with it yet, even the accommodation that's required," Clint joined in.

"We've got the Australian Schoolboys tournament happening in May so that will be good to get something happening again. Plus we'll hold our Timberjack tournament in July where we invite clubs from all over the country, Victoria, South Australia for a friendly series. That one hasn't been held since 2020 actually. We've already had too much interest which is nice."

Baseball returning this weekend is another step forward and another sign that Lismore is rebuilding and visitors are returning to play their part in that process.

You can support the club and meet members by heading to their new home at the Lismore City Bowling Club on Molesworth Street on Friday evenings.