Spruce Grove baseball team shuts down ballpark for remainder of season
Posted August 4, 2026 7:14 pm.
The season’s over at the ballpark for Spruce Grove’s collegiate summer baseball team — the Energy City Cactus Rats.
Despite having construction crews hammer away this summer to get this ballpark ready to welcome in fans for the first time since rebranding in the spring of 2025, the team says repeated heavy rainfall in the region has slowed crews to the point that the team is making this decision.
“From our standpoint, they’ve run out of chances,” said Neil Olsen, Cactus Rats season ticket holder.
Olsen has been a Cactus Rats season ticket holder for over two years. He spent $2,600 to watch the team play at this ball park in 2024, but now, he wants a refund, saying after years of delays, he’s run out of patience.
“To use a baseball term, three strikes, you’re out. That’s basically where I’m at. I’m falling under the definition of insanity where we’re doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different result,” said Olsen.
In a statement from the team posted on social media, the Cactus Rats say that shutting down the ballpark “Allows construction crews to move forward without the operational limitations associated with game days…”
After reviewing the remaining construction requirements and time left in the season, no further 2026 games will be held at Energy City Metro Ballpark.
— Energy City Cactus Rats (@eccactusrats) August 2, 2026
Please see the full statement for details regarding ticket holders, partners and remaining scheduled games. pic.twitter.com/BRrsayWEnD
Adding that this decision was made after a discussion with the league determined there was no longer a meaningful opportunity to achieve additional fan occupancy before the end of the season.
It was earlier this summer that the league’s board of governors met with the team, discussed its plan and timeline for welcoming fans into the ballpark, and approved this field suitable enough to play its first games, without fans in attendance.
“Have there been frustrations? Oh, you better believe there’s been frustrations with the league,” said Kevin Kvame, the president of the Western Canadian Baseball League.
Kvame says the league is focused on keeping games running at ballparks with fans, with playoffs starting this weekend.
Once a champion has been crowned, then the board of governors will begin planning for the 2027 season.
“There’s going to be fall meetings; the Cactus Rats still have to renew their membership as every team does in September, declare that they are going to be in, have a facility and show us a plan, then the governors will have to make an agreement with the Cactus Rats about how that’s going to look for 2027,” said Kvame.
But for fans like Olsen, who says he’s done waiting, he still wants to see a baseball team in his hometown.
“When I see the place open, we’ll buy back in,” said Olsen.
