Story behind the place: Ritz Field

Niwot Youth Sports baseball was thriving in the 1990s and was in desperate need of additional fields for its over 500 ballplayers. NYS was limited to local school fields and borrowed land for much of its then 20-year history. The situation was not ideal for a growing program.

Former NYS Softball director Jim Martinsen reached out to the Left Hand Water District in hopes of securing land for future ballfields and his wish was granted. NYS quickly constructed three makeshift fields adjacent to the Left Hand Water District offices off of Nimbus Road, which consisted of a backstop and bare dirt.

Meanwhile, former Colorado Rockies' pitcher Kevin Ritz was also thriving. Ritz won 17 games for the Rockies in 1996 and signed a large contract extension with the club in 1997. In an attempt to grow baseball in Colorado, the Rockies partnered with the Robert R. McCormick Foundation on a Field of Dreams Program. The McCormick foundation would match a player's donation for the construction of a baseball field in the player's name. Ritz was happy to contribute and together, $50,000 was donated.

"When I was a little leaguer, that was my dream, to play Major League Baseball," Ritz said. "...That was something I thought was a good idea for the Rockies to do, (which) was give back to the community and build little league fields, and I was on board with that."

Back in Niwot, NYS applied to the Rockies for the funds to build a more permanent field on their newly leased land. Unfortunately, the Rockies had run out of funding, but due to a botched proposed field in Jefferson County, the money was offered to then NYS president Bruce "Biff" Warren in mid-summer on condition that NYS could build the field by fall. "We sent them a photo of our field on a cloudy, overcast day, and I think they felt sorry for us," Warren said. NYS gladly accepted.

Construction began soon after with the help of Rockies staff members and NYS volunteers putting in irrigation lines, building dugouts, putting up fences and laying sod. A scoreboard was also installed. In the fall of 1997, Kevin Ritz Field was complete and an inauguration ceremony was held. Ritz and his family graciously attended and Niwot's youth finally had a field to be proud of.

"My passion was to get to the major leagues and that's everybody's passion," Ritz said. "But (it) came true for me and then I wanted to hand it down to other young kids."

Today, Ritz is continuing to help the next generation of ballplayers and is helping coach a high school team in Cambridge, a small town in Ohio where his wife is from.

Sitting proudly in the Biff Warren Baseball Complex off of Nimbus Road, Ritz Field remains a fixture in NYS baseball. Over 20 years later, Ritz keeps the same goal in mind, "Hopefully it made some little kids' dreams come true."

Several NYS players who played on Ritz Field have gone on to play professionally, including Sean Ratliff, whose pro career was cut short due to an injury. And one of those players, David Bote, now plays for the Chicago Cubs.