The lights at Halliwell Park have shined brightly on hundreds of players over the years.

It’s where Highland, Pocatello and Century call home. It’s where Pocatello’s American Legion baseball teams play during the summer. And, in their third year, it’s where the Gate City Grays have gained a loyal following.

The Grays exploded onto the scene in their inaugural season in 2014, and the community latched on immediately. A year later, Gate City captured its first Northern Utah League championship, giving its fans more reason to stack on the support.

In a mere two seasons, the Gate City Grays have turned into a yearly summer sensation, and southeast Idaho baseball enthusiasts are flocking to Halliwell Park in droves to watch.

And many — including those from local high schools who went on to play collegiately — are returning to their stomping grounds to don a new uniform.

A Gate City Grays uniform.

Same field. New logo. The ballplayers who grew up under Halliwell’s lights are back.

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The last time Josh Holmes was at Halliwell Park in a Pocatello Indians uniform, he was coming off a no-hitter.

It was May 9, 2014, and Holmes’ had just shut down conference foe Rigby to send his squad to the 4A state tournament.

Holmes played that summer for the Pocatello Runnin Rebels Legion baseball team, but he hasn’t stepped on the diamond since. He’s been busy working the last two years and will enroll at Idaho State next fall.

Joining the Grays is a chance for Holmes to throw on the mitt again, reconnect with some old friends and play ball in front of the same fans who watched him as a high schooler two years ago.

“A lot of people want to come and watch me as well,” Holmes said. “I also wanted to play with my boy Chase Teter.”

Teter was a teammate of Holmes’ at Poky. They both graduated from high school in 2014, and Teter went off to play baseball at Treasure Valley Community College and earned all-conference first-team accolades this past season.

Teter, whose two years at TVCC are up, is looking into other universities to continue his collegiate baseball career.

But not before returning home and playing for the Grays.

“I wanted to spend as much time as I could with my family before I head out,” Teter said. “And I thought playing for the Grays in Pocatello would be the best way to do it.”

Holmes and Teter aren’t the only recent local grads throwing on the Grays ‘G’. Former Century pitchers Brandon Georgeson and Matt Terry, who graduated in 2014 and 2012, respectively, are also coming back to Halliwell Park for the Grays. Georgeson played his final year this past season for Grays Harbor College, and Terry played a year of baseball at Salem International University in West Virginia before making stops at the University of Utah and ISU.

Both are looking forward to stepping onto the mound they used to dominate from.

“Summer’s a time to play baseball,” Georgeson said. “I like playing for this town. It’s good to be back here again.”

“(Halliwell Park) is definitely close to my heart,” Terry said. “I’ve played here since I was younger, and it’s really a homey feeling playing here.”

Cole Mansanarez, who graduated from Blackfoot in 2012 and will enter his fourth season at the College of Idaho, heard rumblings about the Gate City Grays and their burgeoning popularity. He couldn’t pass up the opportunity to return home to play.

“I came to a game last year and I saw the support that (Pocatello) has for the Grays,” Mansanarez said. “The fans, the whole atmosphere, I just wanted to be a part of it — to come home and be able to play for a team like this.”

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Gate City Grays skipper Trent Seamons did a lot of work this past offseason.

From Treasure Valley to College of Idaho, Seamons went to work finding local players to help bolster his roster.

Seamons knew what kind of talent southeast Idaho could groom. When he managed to lure those players back to play for the Grays, he reinforced an already talented squad.

“We’re feeling confident,” Seamons said. “We’ve got a large roster this year — not just large, but largely talented. There’s a lot of college ballplayers coming back to play, which is kind of the vision we’ve had since the beginning. We’re really excited to develop them and to keep developing the program.”

As for the established leaders who have always lined Gate City’s lineup? Their thinking is: the more the merrier. And if younger college ballplayers are coming in to contend for playing time, Gate City’s veterans are welcoming the challenge.

Regardless of past achievements, those who are entering their third season on the Grays — guys like Tory Hansen, KC Qualls and Ryan Udy — aren’t seeing the influx of talent as a threat. They see it as a motivation to play that much harder to retain their respective positions.

Sure, it’s tough. But it creates a dynamic that propels the squad to do better.

“I see a lot more talent,” Qualls said. “Maybe not power and size, but the athleticism is off the charts. There’s a lot of eager guys who want to get out here and show what they’ve got. ... They’ve really pushed us. It’s been good.”

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Old and new. Grays veterans and Grays rookies. Those who’ve wowed the Gate City faithful for two years and those who’ve spilled sweat onto the dirt at Halliwell Park since before the Grays existed.

It may be a new season, but those who will fill Halliwell’s bleachers this summer will look down and see plenty of familiar players — all of which are chomping at the bit to tack on another successful outing for the Gate City Grays.

“They know the names,” Seamons said. “That’s big for us to bring them back and for their families to continue to be able to watch them play all summer. It’s a really positive thing for everybody.”