On April 5, South Whidbey High School alumni who played baseball for the Falcons will compete against the current varsity team.

The alumni vs. varsity baseball game, which counts as an official game for the season, is part of a celebration marking the 40th year of the baseball field and the 10th year since South Whidbey’s second-place finish in the state tournament.

“I got to thinking, 40 years ago, in 1985, we had a brand-new baseball field,” coach Tom Fallon said. He was a sophomore at South Whidbey when the new field was complete.

Fallon has been part of South Whidbey baseball for years. He became a paid coach for the Falcons in 2000 before becoming head coach in 2013.

“I’m now starting to coach sons of kids I used to coach,” Fallon said. He followed Dave Getlin, who coached baseball at South Whidbey from 1986 to 2000. Bill Patterson coached Falcon baseball from 1986 to 2000.

Following the varsity vs. alumni game, a second all-alumni game will take place.

He said he wanted to put together a community-wide event where people can see a storyboard of the teams that have played over the past 40 years. There will be food available as well as a home-run derby.

The day will also honor the team that finished second at state in 2015.

“It was a close squad on the field. We would just grind out close wins,” said Cambell Andersen, assistant baseball coach for South Whidbey who played right field and pitcher on the 2015 team.

He said the Falcons had a district game go 14 innings and a game in the state tournament go 15 innings. South Whidbey came up short in the 2015 championship game, losing to Hoquiam 6-4.

South Whidbey’s baseball field changed over the years. “When it opened, we didn’t have a home-run fence,” Fallon said.

Fallon said the first home-run fence was installed in the early 1990s. Thanks to a Make-a-Wish fundraiser in 2007 for Colton Wilson, a bullpen, hitting wall and bleachers were installed.

“The baseball field for the better part of 40 years has been my home away from home,” Fallon said.

The varsity vs. alumni game begins at 11 a.m., Saturday, April 5.