Wednesday's season opener vs. Corbett will likely take place at Aiken Field.

The 2015 season will be a landmark year, of sorts, for the Astoria baseball program.

Not because of what the Fishermen will accomplish on the field (win a lot of games, contend for a league title, make the state playoffs) — but where their games will be played, with fan-friendly improvements at one field, and rain resistant turf on the other.

Astoria’s main field will remain at Tapiola Park, where Ernie Aiken Field is in the final phases of some off-the-field work that will create new seating behind the backstop.

But with Columbia Memorial Hospital (CMH) Stadium now open for business, the Fishermen now have a backup field that’s likely better than most of the primary fields and facilities in the state.

The new artificial turf stadium off Williamsport Road opens up a multitude of opportunities and brings an end to a lot of hassles caused by the rainy weather, which tends to show up every now and then in the spring.

While Astoria coach Dave Gasser is equally excited about the possibilities that CMH Field brings, he’s also excited to see the completion of a long list of improvements to Aiken Field.

“Ten years ago was the beginning of trying to make this ballpark (Aiken Field) really work as a high school field, where we could host playoff games and really do it right,” said Gasser, who took over the Fishermen baseball program in 2006, winning Astoria’s first state title the same year.

“We had to redo the dugouts, completely redo the grass infield drainage system, build this batting cage … and all of it was to develop this as a primary baseball field. Because to be honest, there wasn’t one in town that worked.”

Ernie Aiken himself and a host of volunteers “did Herculean work to make it work,” Gasser said, “but the field didn’t drain, and Evergreen Field (at Astoria Middle School) was never a replacement for McAllister Field.

“That was the baseball field here in the early ’70s, and I know that because my father-in-law Elmer (Blomquist) was the hospital administrator, and the field was right next to John Warren Stadium.”

McAllister Field was paved over, “and we never really got a ballfield back after it was gone,” Gasser said.

And “I’ve been on a mission — since it was my father-in-law’s hospital — to get one good, grass baseball field in this community,” Gasser said.

Now — not only will the Fishermen have one good grass field — Astoria will have CMH Field as a backup when the weather gets bad.

Gasser wants to “clear up some public misperception” of “why we’re continuing to fix up Tapiola, when we have this new facility.

“Just because we have Columbia Memorial Field doesn’t change the fact that (Aiken Field) is where the community wants to see a baseball game. This is it. It’s always been it.”

Over the last 10 years, he said, “the two things that I saw happening was to tear down the backstop that was rusting and falling apart, and to create seating behind the plate so people can watch games.”

And that’s the work currently taking place at Aiken Field.

Trees have been removed, and once completed, there will be a cement three-level terrace behind the backstop for more fan-friendly viewing.

No need for the city to pay for it, Gasser said. It’s all taken care of by the Astoria Baseball Foundation.

“Because of all of our facility needs, we started the Astoria Baseball Foundation, and that organization was put in place to improve facilities,” he said. “It isn’t a support for the Astoria High School baseball team — we’re independent of that. It’s just trying to help facilities in our community.

“And they’ve been wonderful at it. Our last two projects for the Astoria Baseball Foundation are creating a new backstop and terracing the hill.”

Wednesday’s season opener vs. Corbett will likely take place at Aiken Field, where “We have every intention of playing, when the weather permits,” Gasser said. “But realistically, we’re going to spend most of our practice time at the new field. It’s fantastic. And we’ll play about a third of our games there when weather is iffy. Rather than start a game at Aiken and not get it in, if the weather is iffy, we’re going to play at Columbia Memorial Field.”

Besides serving as a backup field when it rains, CMH Field can be much more for Astoria, Gasser said.

“The field will be a boon for us. Once it’s established and some teams have seen it this summer, we’re going to be able to get some teams here. We can have our own local tournaments, and save money from traveling expenses. I see (CMH Field) as offering summer baseball tournaments that we could play at both Columbia Memorial and Aiken. Three-day, 10-team tournaments — it would be like a cruise ship landing in Astoria. But they’re not sleeping on the ship — they’ll be in beds here in town.

“It will facilitate Babe Ruth Baseball, baseball camps … we’re going to use it a ton.”

Ten years ago, “we had no options when the weather was bad,” he said. “Now we’re going to have two. To sustain a baseball program in Oregon, you need at least two fields that work. Hopefully by the end of this spring, we’ll have two really good options, and we’ll be using both as much as possible.”