📍 Williamsport, Pennsylvania
⚾ Home of the Williamsport Crosscutters

Lodged between the rolling hills of central Pennsylvania in one of the most baseball-infused towns in the nation, Journey Bank Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field stands as a testament to the enduring spirit of America’s pastime. This quirky, iconic ballpark on the banks of Lycoming Creek in downtown Williamsport has been a cornerstone of the community for nearly a century, opening way back in 1926. Having hosted more than a dozen minor league teams over the years, Bowman Field is now home to the Williamsport Crosscutters of the MLB Draft League.

While Bowman Field certainly has a story of its own to tell, the stadium’s most important connection to baseball history sits elsewhere in Memorial Park, just beyond the right field wall. Here, a statue recognizes the first-ever organized Little League game, played in the summer of 1939 on a small field adjacent to the minor league stadium. Made possible by founder Carl Stotz, his three-team league – sponsored by a local lumber company, dairy farm and a pretzel maker – would eventually grow into the global organization which today provides an outlet for youth from all around the world to play the game they love. The Little League World Series – the group’s marquee event – was also held just across the street from Bowman Field for many years, but swelling crowds would force the construction of a much larger facility across the Susquehanna in South Williamsport in 1959.

Each August, as the LLWS happens five miles away at Howard J. Lamade Stadium, Bowman Field plays host to MLB’s Little League Classic. Held every year since 2017, the Classic is played primarily in front of Little League families and Lycoming County residents, placing a major league matchup right in their backyard. But throughout the rest of the summer, it’s the Williamsport Crosscutters who are tasked with providing the on-field entertainment at this historic venue.

For ‘Cutters games, the ballpark holds just over 2,300 fans, with a traditional seating structure accompanied by several picnic decks and group areas that add a bit of flair to the overall design. The stadium’s two-part name both pays homage to J. Walton Bowman – a local businessman who played a crucial role in the ballpark’s construction – and reflects a naming rights deal with a local financial institution.

It was Bowman, in fact, who helped inspire the team’s current moniker. The club initially arrived from Geneva, New York in 1994 and were christened the Williamsport Cubs, but the then-affiliated short season team was renamed the Crosscutters just five years later. It was a solid rebrand designed to honor the city’s logging heritage as the former “Lumber Capital of the World,” with Mr. Bowman’s father being the founder of a prominent lumber company in the city.

Today, the Crosscutters continue to carry on the legacy of Billtown’s deep-rooted baseball connection as members of the MLB Draft League. A minor league affiliate in the storied New York-Penn League until the restructuring in 2021, the ‘Cutters remains a cherished part of Williamsport’s cultural fabric, a place where the past and present of America’s pastime converge.