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Going To The Wind Surge Home Opener? From Tickets To Parking, Here's What You Need To Know

Nadya Faulx
/
KMUW

The long-delayed debut of Wichita’s newest baseball team is finally here.

The Wind Surge plays its home opener Tuesday night at Riverfront Stadium in the Delano neighborhood. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

The Wind Surge is the Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. It was supposed to play its inaugural season in 2020, but the pandemic canceled all minor league games.

The opener against the Amarillo Sod Poodles is the first of six home games this week. If you’re going to Riverfront Stadium, here’s some things to keep in mind:

Tickets

Team officials expect a crowd of more than 8,000 for the opener, as long as the weather cooperates. Tickets are still available.

Tickets are required for children 3 and older.

Parking/Shuttle bus

The Wind Surge and city officials say there are about9,000 parking spots around the stadium and along the free shuttle bus route.

The shuttle bus will run every 5 to 10 minutes an hour before and an hour after games. It will loop from the stadium heading east on Waterman, north on Emporia, west on William to Topeka and then back south to Waterman and the stadium.

Pregame activities

Although the game starts at 7:05 p.m., pregame activities begin at 6:30. Those will include acknowledging Lou Schwechheimer, the team’s former managing partner who was instrumental in moving the team to Wichita from New Orleans.

Schwechheimer died last summer from COVID-19.

“I think everyone in this community that met Lou only experienced his positivity and joy of life,” said Jared Forma, the team’s general manager and senior vice president.

“While we're going to focus on paying proper respect to Lou in a couple of things we do, we're going to quickly also turn our attention to the joy of Wind Surge baseball.”

Get there early

Riverfront Stadium will open at 5 p.m. and team officials advise fans to show up early.

During a Wichita State baseball game last month that served as a soft opening for the stadium, long lines formed during security checks at some of the entrances.

Forma said the team has added signage around the stadium to help better direct fans. It also has added security express lines to speed up the process.

Only clear plastic bags are allowed inside the stadium. Purses, backpacks and fanny packs are not allowed.

Diaper bags and necessary medical items are allowed.

Public health protocols

Face masks are required inside Riverfront Stadium, except when fans are eating or drinking.

All transactions for tickets, concessions and parking will be done by debit or credit card. The team has two locations in the stadium where fans can load cash onto a debit card.

There also is socially distant pod seating available in Section 3.

Staying connected

Fans can access public Wi-Fi at the stadium under “Riverfront Stadium Guest.”

Tom joined KMUW in 2017 after spending 37 years with The Wichita Eagle where he held a variety of reporting and editing roles. He also is host of The Range, KMUW’s weekly show about where we live and the people who live here. Tom is an adjunct instructor in the Elliott School of Communication at Wichita State University.