Jack Amyette Ballpark
Jacksonville, NC
Review by Gary
For those not in the know, Jacksonville, North Carolina is the home of Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base. If you were not aware of this while driving to Jack Amyette Park in Jacksonville, you would soon be reminded. Military directional signage, billboards and memorials abound notating the brave soldiers of the past, present and future.
The ballfield is the home of the Jacksonville Ospreys of the collegiate Old North State League (ONSL). The team is named not only for the local bird that resides here but also for the Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey Aircraft that flies over the area so often you probably don’t even notice after a while.
Jack Amyette Ballpark is part of a larger recreation center and is nestled between the administrative building and an elementary school. A separate restroom facility, splash pad and open-air field abuts the ballfield on the third base side. A chain link fence surrounds the playing field. A small, open-air press box deck stands behind home plate.
Flanking the scorer’s garrison are metal-benched stands which are the best seats in the park. Covered field-level dugout encampments are located beyond these stands while two portable aluminum bivouacs are situated down the left field line, perhaps so that fans of the outfielders can have a closer view.
The park has plenty of room to stand or sit in your own camp chair down the line, but be sure to bring your field glasses as the vintage scoreboard just left of the batter’s eye is the about the size of a 60” flat screen and half the length of the dozens of local advertisements hanging on the outfield fence. Perhaps one of the many local veteran groups will take up a collection for a larger video board someday.
As this visit was just before Opening Day of the Ospreys’ second season at Jack Amyette, maybe more improvements like a larger scoreboard will be on the way to the ballpark and the town that supports its team and the country. Oorah!
2025
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