Edinburgh Rays baseball team are expecting a significant boost in playing numbers as they prepare to complete work on a ground they can call home at Morgan Playing Fields, Peffermill.
Work is well underway with support from The City of Edinburgh Council and businesses such as Raeburn Brick, Jewson’s and Cloburn Quarry to create an appropriate diamond plus mounds, backstops and bases without interfering with football pitches used by Edinburgh South FC
Club official Luke Rajczuk says: “One of the most pleasing aspects of the entire exercise is the way everyone has come together to support us and we aim to be able to hold one or two winter practices shortly before letting the field rest until we start preparing for the new season in mid February.
“Getting the correct bricks was especially difficult because, like on some tennis court surfaces, it has to have a bit of elasticity but the suppliers went out of their way to assist.”
Luke believes the field is going to make a big difference to the club’s profile to the extent that a current membership of around 40 players is expected to grow.
“We are planning both a AAA team to compete in the North East League (which Rays won last season with an unbeaten record against Durham Spartans, Newcastle Nighthawks and Durham Wolves) and a rookies team.
“In addition we are looking at how we can attract young players through after school clubs.
The 2026 side will have a hard act to follow for in addition to the league win Rays travelled to London and after defeating Croydon Pirates and London 45ers they reached the final of the silver division of a Summer Cup losing out to a South West and Wales Select team drawn from a wide variety of clubs.
“Our opponents in the final were effectively a dream team” said Luke, adding “and not many of our rivals had heard of us. But we got on with the job and did extremely well to get a silver medal.”
