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The Uwharrie Wampus Cats will host an Independence Celebration on July 3, complete with their first postgame fireworks show at Don Montgomery Park.
The Wampus Cats, Albemarle’s collegiate wood-bat baseball team, will take on the Race City Bootleggers at 7 p.m. and the game will be followed a few minutes later by the fireworks.
Paul and Karen Hinkle will perform the anthem for the game and Boy Scout Troop 82 will present colors.
“It’s going to be a very fun night,” said team owner Greg Sullivan. “We’re told the show is going to be the first in the City of Albemarle in several years and it’s our first as a team, so it’s going to be big for all of us. We’d love to see a lot of locals and area fans come out to the game where they’ll have the best view of the show. What could be better than baseball and fireworks around the holiday?”
For those who have not been to games, all Wampus Cats games include concessions and beer sales. No outside food or drinks may be brought in. Parking at the park will be only for those attending the game.
The venue has a capacity of less than 1,000 fans.
The Wampus Cats have been playing well of late in the highly-competitive Southern Collegiate Baseball League, an MLB-supported summer league, and have already beaten defending league champion the Mooresville Spinners twice on the season. This year’s team has multiple Stanly County natives on the roster, including Sawyer Smith, Garrett Swink, Chance Hunt, Reece Crump and Brendan Fulcher.
Tickets for the game, including the fireworks show, are $7 in advance and $8 at the gate and can be purchased in advance at www.tickettailor.com/events/uwharriewampuscats.